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THIS DiSSERTATION HAS BEEN M~CROFI~MED MICROFI~MEE TEW QUE EXACTLY AS RECElVED VETERAVS' GROUPS IN VANCOUVER, 1919-1922.
-.BY b. . . 2--. :.zzsez,. .hne Lees - ) 0.i. Sln~niraser University, 1983.
3 THESIS SSEYZTTD IN PkftTIliL FULFILLMENT 3F THE - FZE$C;L'IRE-LIENTS F3R THE DEGREE 3r"
in the Department
Iii story
A11 rlghts reserved. This thesis may not be r, repr~duzedi-i iihgIe 3r in part, by ph?to~opy tir ~therneazs, witbut permission of the author. i'autorlsatlon a GtZ accoraPe a la Brollotr.E;;te catloqale . : Csnaca se z~crofzinsr zetce tnese et zk ?rOter ou ae vendre 2e-s exeni)lalres cu f ;lm.
Lrauteur i tl+_,;,arre 3~ drolt z'autezr) se rgserve les aitres ar3lts ze +sllcatlon; -11 la tnEse r.: ze l~ngs extrai'ts . ce' ce1le-cr ne colvent- Stre ;mpr~rnPs ou 2-crement reFr2zults sans SOP aUt3rl9at10s Pcrrte. APPROVAL
i 1
%. %. Same: Elizabeth Anne Lee.s
Degree: Y.A. '?
. Title of thesis : Problerns of ~acifiEation: i-eterans' ~roup's' ' 1
in I'ancouve.~,1919-1922 -* / -"*
Examining Cgmrittee: J. Little, Chairran i
1 z . Strong-Boag, Superirisory mvittee
,/ = ;
\ -2.'. -\ u u '. - k. Flsher,,&apervisory Committee
'mn3txtenal Examiner, Professor, Political Science Department, Sicon Fraser University
I I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, projecr or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to uzers of the Sinan Fraser Univepy Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the 1iccary ot,any,o~%er,irtiuersity, or other educationat institution, on its awn beha l f!or Tor sne of its users. I further agree that permission 1 * for rrbltiple cppy:?g aF ?+is work for scholarly purposes may be granted by ne ir the $an s4 ~radurteStudies. It is understood that copyTng or 3uCl icatioq of t*.:s Lor& for f i~ncikigain shal l npt be allowed I without my writte~permission,
F& - > TitI e of Thes i ~/~r~i;ect/Exten3edEssay&i, -' . "Problems of Pacification: Veterans' Groups in ~ancouver,
1515-1522" iii
ABSTRACT
\ As the Great War 'ended Canada's* returning ,soldiers .had \ e
7. \ high hopes for social change.- Many env.isioned a ,united
C ' \ ve teransl movement, calling on the Federal Government to' \
reorganize the economy in orderL- to serve the needs of the-many t rather thh the 'interests of the few. The dream quickly faded \'
as veterans faced the General Strikes of 1919 and the . I unemployment crisis of 1920-1922. Meanwhile 'the economy continued ''on its familiar bobm and bust course, offering it2 \ I lrnfortunate human victims 0.~1~-the barest minumum of social
programmes. This thesis describes those ve teransl groups active in ~ancou8krdurin~the 1919-1922 period. The focus is on the politics of early veteranst organizations and thkir
inieraction with the labour movement. Among other sources;' the study relies on information from the official documents of the associations, military intelligence reports and newspapers.,
Re turned servicemen were far Yrom .united. The largest' Vancouver group, the Great War Veterans' Association, was -- ~~-3iny-one of many' organizations. Several large pro-labour A - veteransr grgups were also active in the city. The GWVA,
controlled by' a &nservat iva faction, opposed the Vancouver I Gene'ral Strike. Other groups supported it'. Most of the rank
and file seem to have beem ambivalent. After the strike
veterans w,ere further fragmented as the GWVA lost many of i'ts
members to the Grand Army of United Veterans, a more ' politically oriented group, which demanded a cash {bonus for
ex-servicemen. By December 1920, the first toime that the , veterans were able to take part in a British Columbia 1 provincial.elect"ion, it was clear that the lobbying tactics of
the GWA had.failed. *The GAUV made several attemp'ts to form.. '.
s soldier(labour/f armer political alliances, but the few that I
A' A' were formed were unsuccessful at the polls. In the i unemployment crisis ctf 1920-22 the absence of a united s veterans' movement allowed all levels of government to avoid
P responsibility for the jobless ex-serviceman. Some of the
unempioyed, di sillusioned by their treatment, turned to ,
radical organizations suc)l-as the Canadian ~itionalUnion of ' ,-- Ex-Servicemen, which used confrontation to draw attention to
their plight. By this time the idea of a broadly based
veterans' movement had become just a memory.
4 In shot and shell I have been free 'Tis peace' that's Hell Oh God! Help Me. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thanks to Allen Seager for his direction of the research and writing of this thesis, and to veronica Strong
Boag and Robin Fisher for their guidance. I would like to ' v acknowledge the helpF _of George Brandak; at Special Collectlons - - - at the University of British Columbia, Pat Dunae at the Public
Archives of British Columbia and Glen Wright at the PubL'ic
.~rchivesof Canada,- for their assistance. I thank the W.S. Ewart Foundation, the Cook Conference, the Leon S. Ladner (r Scholarship for their financial help. ~lsothe Simon Fraser
University Senate for two Graduate Research Fellowships. My serious interest in history began at Capilano College; I thank
Harlene, Legates, for her insighfs and interest during the time
I spent there. Finally I would like to express my warm appreciation of my friends? Brent, eath her, Kathy and Robert. \ -- their support has. been invaluable. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
ABSTRACT...... ,..,..,.. ...iii 4 , -.. - - -. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... I..f...... vi . GLOSSARY.,...... v'iii * r INTRO~CTION....,...... ,.~l
Return from the Wars...... 6 - - The- Veterans Organize...... 30
The General- Strike and its af.termath...... 52
Unemployment, Disillusion, Disintegration. . .98
BIBLIOGRICPHY..,,...... 136 viii
The ~rmyand Navy Veterans.
BCRSAC British Columbia Returned Soldiers' Aid Comrni ssion. (The provincial 'government body in charge of soldiers' re-establishment)
Campaigners The Campaigners of the Great War.
Comr ades The Comrades of the Great War. i In the post WWl GAUV The Grand Army of United Veteran?. i I : The Great War Veterans' ~ssociatio/n. 3ne Big Union. Soldiers' Civilian RZ-~stablishment. (The federal government department in charge of soldiers1 repatriation and re-establishment) VTLC Vancouver Trades and Labour Council. INTRODUCTION. Christmas 1321 - approximately seven hundred men are . crowded into a camp in the city of Vancouver. It-is not a pri;on, though:it night *ell be. Each inmate has an identification card issued by the chief df police; each has *i beendsubjected to a medical check for body vermin and venereal course which will eventually be used by- the city's wealthy . -=> inhabitants. The men are paid 20 cents an hour, and from this sum deductions are made of 20 cents per meal and 50 cents per night's accommodation; this leaves 50 cents per week for spending money. The men sleep on two tiers of bunks in one / large room. The camp is plastered with signs that forbid entertaining, speechinaking and alcohol. Camp di scipline is narsh, and authoritarian: the committee that the men form is igncred.by the caap's director. That so many men will undergo these humiliating procedures is a measure of their desperation and destitution. It is the only way they can syrvive the winter. Wh-ile the city auth'orities give relief to married men, single men can only rgceive aid if they report to the Hastings - < - s- p Park Camp. Almost half of the camp's inmates are 4 ex-servicemen. Two years earlier, on their- return from the Great War they had been greeted by cheering, flag waving crowds t - and empty promises of a land fit for heroes. Now they are -4 X m 3 'a, k (d a,r:C >JJaJ a, '0a-03 ,-I u c a)-a) -4 w a C - O'JJ C U a, C JJ a, w w a, a. c JJQ)-LI~, u 3 c o o a, a LI 4-~ a, 'UJJaE @ 0 -4 3 (d C a, V E JJ-WUC k CaJJ l-i (II Q, L: cU h !.I !.I -4 oaa, rn l-i I= u ,-I o crisis and its effects on veterans. The short conclusion includes a list of unanswkred questions. . Notes .s' 1. 6. P. Gilmam and H. M. Sinclair, Unemployment: Canada's Problem (Winnipeg, 19371, p. 32. - - 2. City of Vancouver Archives (hereafter CVA) , City Council ~inutes;Special Report on winter Employment, Employment and Industries Committee, 8 September 4921; CVA, City Clerk's Correspondence, File 13-F-7, Notices $or Relief Camp; B.C. Federationist,'16 December 1921, pp. 1 & 4; Vancouver Sun, 2 ~ecern6er1921, p.14, 6th December 1921, p. 18, 18th" I =uary 1922, p, 2; Vancouver World, 9 January 1922, p. 3. 0 3. C.A. Sharpe, "Enlistment in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, f 914-1 918: A ~egionalAnal y-sis" , Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol 18, No. 4 (~i%ter1983-84), pp. 15-29; ~esmond' Norton, "Noble,st and Best: Retraining Canada's War Disabled, 1916-23", Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol 16, Nos 3 & 4, (F.all/Winter'1481), pp. 75-85. * CHAPTER 1 Return from the wars. The government and the country will consider it their . first duty to see that a proper appreciation of your effort and of your courage is brought to tohe notice the peaple' at home, and.it will always be our endeav~urto so guide the attitude of public opinion that the country will support the government to prove to the rbturned man its just and due appreciation of the inestimable value of the service rendered to the country and Ernplre; and that no man whether he goes back or whether he remains in Flanders, will have . just cause t~ reproach the Government for having broken faith with the men who won and the men who died. Prime Minister Borden to the Canadian ' Expeditionary Force, 1917, before the Battfeof Virny. 1 The .veterans wha returned from the Great War found a 'iancouver that appear& to be very different from the city they had left, but beneath the outward appearance many of its cnaracteristics were ~nchangea. Fuelled by the economic boom ;f the early years 3f the century, the city had become Canada's f2urth largest 4:t: a 1919 population of 123,050. Its ecDnomy, like tt,at 3f the prsvince it served as a metropolitan centre, W~Shs3vily dependent on resource extraction. The -2r~ductsof r_ke r2i.incial hinterland were- exported through the ?3rc of Vanco~i'er. - Apart frm the preliminary processing of zhesz raw mcerials (for exanple, saw milling), and producticn of corpumer goods for a s 11 domestic market, manufacturing a' Q .e, was not well developed. The provincial mark?-t was too small for / the ci tyls industrjes to be able to manufacture sophisticated machinery competitively. Int contrast the city's commercial institutions were well developed: in 1914 it wqs the - /' headrquaiters of the great majority of the companies doing 2 business in the provinhg. In, 1913 the "~ahrier"boom came to anaabrupt halt, and the \ nation entered a period of acute depression. Rumours of war exacerbated the situation. The slump, which affected aAl of 4 '8 canada, hit the western provinces particularly hard. In British - 'i Columbia mining and- logging companies shut -down anderailway %R 4 contruction ceased. The outbreak of war gave rise to financial d A chaos symbolized by the, collapse of Dominion Trust and' the Bank of Vancouver. Tax arrears, vacant housimg and unemployed people were prominent features of' the Varrcouvkr scene. An influx of unempl~yedfrom .putlying districts made a bad situation even worse: in the spring of 1915 there were riots 3n the streets when civic authorities attempted to cut the unemployed off relief. Enlistment in the armed services became 4'------___ a solution of sorts for the unemployed workers, for municipal authorities and employers. Men who were laid off received a slip in their final pay packets that read ."Your King and Country need you -- we don'tn. Despite the war hysteria which P engulfed much of Canada's daily press, and the patriotism of mny workers, it appear3 that hunger was often the reason for "voluntary* enlistment. John Brodie, a union activist who testified at the 1919 Royal ~ommisssi.onon Industrial Relations, mainkained that .',, .a large percentage of our men who shouldered the gun to fight for democracy and freedom were C --I r practically forced at the point of starvationn. 3 It was not until M16 that the city itself experienced the , . effects of way production; the province's mineral and lumber , exports were in strong demand and port. fa.cilitjes ,were improved to meet the increased traffic. But the most important wartime Vancouver industry was maritime construction. For a few years this form of manufacturing changed both the city's economic a C . -# character and its workforce, Seventeen new shipyards opened on the British Columbia coast during the war years. Coughlan's in a Vancouver, with a payroll of 7,000 became the city's largest employer. Others in the area included -the Wallace, western , ?3@ Canada, Northern Construct ion and B.C. Marine shipyards. The0 imperial Munitions' Board placed orders for both steel and - wooden ships. Other orders came from Britain's allies. . Shipbuilding created a demand for related product ion: boi lees, internal combustioh engines., propellers and ship's f ittinqs 1. were-all manufactured within the area, This led to a demand fo'r skills and a concentration of labour that wexe new to the city. In tliese conditions unions rapidly gained strength. Membership in British Columbia's un'ions rose from 13,017 in 1914 to 27,034 in 1918 (from 7.1 per cent to 14.6 per cent 0% the non-agricultural workforce). Much of this strength was 4 concentrated in the shipbuilding and allied industries, But all was not well. The outward appearance of prosperity and full employment masked social inequality and increasing confrontation between worker and employer. . . a, 2, r-4 k m U Q, -4 X 3 a -4 JJ U Na a,. a, I= a, JJ Y 10 -- private charity. The price of a husband's patriot'ism was of ten "f , 6 humiliation for his wife. The Canadian Patrio-tic Fund called for a thorough- investigation of eachRapplicant in order 'to I determine 'whether a family, by its rnethod!of living, is worthy / - P of assistance from public. moneysn. Soldier's wives were subject to continuing scrubiny by visiting cornmi ttees and paid investfgators who checked to see that they raised their children "suitably", remained sexually continent and paid thei;' - bills. Despite these demeaning conditions many soldier's wives had no choice: in 1917 the Fund assisted 3,743 of Vancouver-Is families. 6 - - Women, children and old people were in no position to fight for- an improvement in their circumstances-. Workers could and did fight' for better conditions. Their unions became increasingly militant,- and as Martin Robin writes: "there was aanifest a strong resistance to the war regimentation, a resistance which culminated in fierce opposition to consd~ription". ~abour%reccivedmore recognition than it had 2reviously enjoyed, but not enough to prevent continuing conflict.' The unions were particularly upset by the prospect of the draft. They felt that the worker was already being made to sbulder an unfair ?ortion of the sacrifices of war. The *iancouver Trades and Labour Council LVTLC), which was vehemently opposed t~ the introduction of the dr9ft nominated '. antl-conszriptlon candidates in the 1917 Federal election. Its presldeM, Victor Hidgely, was a candidate in Vancouver aur rard and 5 .?. 8cVe ty, a union activist, contested Vancouver S~uth. But wartime patriotism, the appeals of the. Union 11 t .. .'C .? " Government and the ge,rrymandering of the wart i#e ~lectionsAct - - led to their defeat at the polls. The Labour movement was 'still smarting from this loss in 1918, khen Vancouver reached a geak of wartime conflict between unions$and employers. Orders-in-Council outlawing membership in fourte,en radical associat?ons (including the Industrial Workers of the World and the Social Democratic Party) 'were further irritants. Strikes themselves were made illegal dur.ing October and November of - ,, 1918. In 1913 there had been twenty-five strikes in the province, in 1918 there were foqty-six. The latter included 4 walk-outs by Vancouver1s electrical workers, carpenters, painters, millmen, warehou9 emen, street railwaymen, bakers and 7 shipyard employees. The most violent confrontation of the year was sparked by the death of a former Vice-president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, Ginger Goodwin, who was shot in the back as a draft evader. The Vancouver Trades and Labour Council called a twenty-four hour strike to protest the killing.'. The walkout, which took place on the second of August; was an impressive show of labour strength which angered the rcityls businessmen and their allies. A crowd of more than 300 veterans ransacked the Labour Temple and attempted to throw VTLC President Midgely out of a second storey window. Failing in this, they forced-him to kneel and repeatedly kiss the Union Jack. The / enraged mob would not even allow verbal opposition; Delegate Thomas of the Longshoremen was beaten when he went to the - lr ryscue of one spectator who had dared- to voice dissent. - Contemporary newspaper accounts of the rioting suggest that the - actip was instigated by business leaders. P.G. Shallcross, President of the Board i~w Trade was pleased with the mob's actions. He publicly thanked the veterans for what he - described as "restraintn in the face of the "provocationn they had received. He told them that the loyal men of the province- did not give expression to their- thoughts often enough and I urged tihem to "kill the German elementn and "locate the German I cashn. /Others haddi fferent reactions to the violence. Labour ' lawyer [wallace Lefeaux claimed that- the rioters were returned office$ rather than enlisted men, while ex-~rivatetom Bainacd . the businessmen who encouraged the violence "flag flappi g patriotsA- identifying profiteers and rack renters as . the "real1 traitorsu. 8 I i N? doubt the events of ~ugust1918 led many Vancouver- smen to hope that they would be able to use -, icemen as tools to break the union movement when the . over. On the other hand the autho'rities feared thast s would make commoh with labour. RNWMP i commislioner Perry was by the spread of npernicioua - propag k nda" among veterans in Vancouver. The "loyalty" of & veterahs was a constant theme of the intelligence reports of i the R~MPand the lkparkment of Militia. Contacts between 1 L organiked labour and ve teransl groLps were under constant I scrutiby and secret agents- attended veterans' meetings. Evan t B while they vere abroad, Canadian 'soldiers ha# shown they we're ! a forcb to be reckoned with. The government had planned to I ! ship them hone slowly, priority being given to skilled i ? tradesben. But the soldiers were imdatient': those waiting in I . I i .4 England rioted in protests that led to fi've deaths. After this demobilization was speeded up. In Canada itself the situation 9 had to be handled carefully in order to prevent social 9 unrest. > Dernobiliza tion and re-establishment were massive undertakings. The Canadian Government boasted that its provision of pensions and retraining for the war-disabled was mom'generous than tha't of its war allies. But the government's re-establishment plan had one major flaw -- it assumed that 'the economic climate would allow able-bodied ex-servicemen to find suitable .employment in.a matter of months. There were other problems. Many of the schemes grew i, out of earlier developments and lacked the overall coherence to deal with a problem of this scale. . Federal-provincial squabbling often made it difficult to implement programmes. The structure of Canadian Government, with its division of Federal and Provincial powers, allowed politicians to shirk their responsibilities to tbse who had fought for King and Country. At the Federal level the first priority was pension9 for the disabled, their dependents, war widows and orphans. During the war pension regulations updating earlier provisions- were passed by Order-in-Council . They were oonsolidated in $ha ~ensioksAct in 1919. At that time a totally disabled r single veteran received $60 per month, whereas the wages of a labourer in Vancouver were about $80 per month. Widows received $48 per month. Allowances were made for dependent children and dependent parents of dead or disabled 10 soldiers. ----P- .. ,' /-\,-'- - - . Very few soldiers were2;:. considered totally disabled, In ' 9%- 1924 only 2,380 out or a "eotal of,43,263 pensions were •’a# total diiabil'ity. Eighty ,$r cent of pensioners received * between a quarter and ,hall of the allowable maximum. Even so Canada's pension bill was enormous as was the bureaucracy that administered the plan, and administrators proved their frugality on more than one occasion. Two examples illustrate --- - -. this. A discharged soldier aged 43 had a spinal injury that d cgused partial paralysis of his righk shoulder. He was unable b to raise his right arm tb shdulder height and could write only E*. with great difficulty. For this permanent injury he was awarded a pension of $15 per month. In reply to his protest the Director of the Pensions Board informed him "If you can F feed yoqrself the highest we can give you is 30 per centn. A widow who lost her son overseas was awarded a pension of $48 per month. In order to pay the heavy mortgage on her property she fitted up a small building on her lot and rented it out for $15 per month. When they heard-about this the -_ 11 .------Pensions Board reduced her pension by $15. - . 1 Throughout the post-war era the conduct and decisions of - ,--i the Pensions Board were a constant irritant to veterans and - the groups that represented them. The retraining programme of the Department of Soldiersf Civilian Re-Es tabli shment- (SCR) was less unpopular. Formed in 1918, one of .its functions was - to take over the rehabilitation services which had been The SCR arranged for re-training in skills such as tailoring, motor mechanics, dental mechanics and movie project ion. Local -educational institutipns were utilized for this purpose. In 1918 the University of British Columbia was training veterans in. automobile repairs, practical engineering and agricultilral 12 pursuits. Ex-servicemen retrained under SCR pro"gammes were remarkably successful in finding work: 61,278 out of its- 68,673 first year trainees found more or less permanent positions. This was not, of course, a philanthropic endeavor. Desmond Morton describes it as a "shrewd and often imaginative businks venturen. The men were carefully selected for a training that was aimed at making them self sufficient. This would reduce the long t.erm pension bill. "As an investment of $27 miffion, most of it in training pay and allowances it probably ach)ieved its purpose". The benefits of the SCRts re training programme were, af ter a great deal of pressure, d extended to those who had joined up under the age of eighteen, but at no time were they made available to able-bodied 13 ve terans. Granting land to soldiers as a reward for military service was an old tradition in Canada: soldiers wh:, had fought on. the British side during the American Revol,ution had been given land. The tradition was continued by the Federal Soldiers' Settlement ~oaqdwhich provided one of the few benefits available to men vhs had been discharged as medically fit. A soldier could apply for a grant of free land plus a loan of $3';000. for liy&stock and improvements. The Settlement Board , also lganed up to $4,500 for the purechase of agricultural land k in additi,on to a loan for ljvestock and.imqrovements. Loans , . t k were repayabTe at five per cent per anhum over twenty-f ive r- B years. These benefits were not necessarily available to every \ veteran. TWBoardrs advertisements stated: ?b the sele.ct ion ' I .. .of candidates,. .the board is careful .to ensure that the veteran 1I who secures the loan is in every way fitted for the Calling ok - I agriculture," In practice this meant that the scheme was J * I restricted to those with farming experience who could come up 14 1 with a downpayment of 10 per cent. I 7 e Premier Oliver of British Columbia, an ex-farmer and a 1 i " proponent of the rural ideal, was an enthusiastic supporter; of Q I 4 this plan. In 1918, under his leadership, the Province I I I passed a Soldiers1 Land Act before the federal legislation ]was I passed: Farm settlement benefited -politicians by keeping e < - veterans away from the city where they were a potential squrceI b- of social disruption,. It proved.. less helpful to veterans British Columbia a combination of federal-provincial Z squabbling, poor selection of land, and a lack of access /to . . I suitable markets, ruined any hope of success the qheme, might have had. Settlement schemes elsewhere in Canada had a similar - 15 3 lack of success. 1 _ /3 Many atjle-bodied veterans were trained to industrial disciplines. For these city dwellers farming was neith;er A n suitabla nor desirable. A federal government response /to 17 veterans' need for employment was the creation of the Employment service of Canada, which worked in co-operation with d the ~nformationand Service ranch of the SCR and Provincial / employment of fices. In British Columbia the service, -which i began in December 1918, established Labour bureaus in Vancouver, Victoria, Prince Rupert, Nanaimo, New Westminster, 7 - I Cranbrook, Fernie, Kamloops and Kelowna. It made 55,000 job placements during its first year, though many clients were placed more than once. Though the scheme provided a useful service in directing workers to avgilable jobs, it 'could not create jobs in times of depression. The supply of seasonal labour to farmers became one of its main functions. Agrarian . s interests, however, preferred bringing in cheap labour from Eastern Europe to paying Canadian workers a living wage. In response to their pressure the scheme was phased out in the early years of the King administration. 18 The most useful provision for the majority of able bodied veterans took the form of cash. Under an Order-in-Council passed a month after the war ended they were given "post . discharge payments". A private Who had survived three years of overseas service yeceived pay for 193 days after demobilization. On the other end of a sliding scale of payments was 3l -days pay for a privat-e who had served in \ 'Ly Canada for one year. - Allowances were given for wives an'd dependent children. Like pensions, post-di scharge pay' rose - ... according to military rank, but even at the lowest level a private's allwan& was double the $1.10 ha had been paid while - m L ! a, -4a r-i 0 cn oacE U v, .A u 'a, IJ3 u -4 c m * d C ,-I > a *Oh h L, 'JJ E 04 k m @a,- G C 'a, H (d I= k 4J u0) C a,. -4 3 C 9-4 oaa,- Lux -4 a .bJ - ccum a ..+OCUL kkvb. r( EJ=K! rd s) so7ia.J AG 306, C JJWEIS Q) r-i -4 a, % a, a, k nf I, m H a -4 304C 0 c~,acc~-ma, 3 m cn ~u~a3cvrnca,JJLuU)a L (d u &.I (d cAJa,LIuaa 2 3 0 0 L.4 4J-tiEO-4.Cd) 50cCkuu E '-. k W k C rncaoa WEOCWOL, - Q, hwao ow 3 o a.2 'OLJUd Ei c 0 a, aaa a m 2( U ,a, a, r:au acna -LLC~: 0aI)ac d LI Q) - a, m rd L .4 a, m 0 a,wa LI aocnaraacu~~.tia,a o c 4 a, -4 UJ 0 ULLa,U aacoul.ca,wa,a, a, C -4 a, -4 szlacuuo m-EalLLI: AIOC (duo cua,a '3 u UU.4atO a P L a 0 0 rCd0 l rl u a [email protected] ?-I c3 a2ma, .Ca>a,c( m 34C a* c 0 IJ 0 cn I0 W - d .LILT- 0 ua,-4IJri 3 rd -4 .4 -4 4 C a J3-"'u63Utd aa3 .4 4.l 4 03' C01J",& UnU IJam dO&.I u a c, c c, wun - d a) o UJ 'n o a, LL bYE UJ2L)CC'na,(d 4-J 0 >. 3 c d .r cnoa U UJ LJ LJ ht" Q a,r,b -4 334 4J $4 >m4-~rna, r( .L.' C ~U)a,cLJ- UJa3 ~a,~:.clach ax0 rl Lon 3 IJ a, LC n c .4 a,ccaa,un alwu -r: a, a 0 cn C AJ > ..2Y$ 4 0. a, 0ala)tJYJ-J a df U "do .U u 0,v4&4r( a LJ b4A L-luja, 0 A+$ aoa 3h~IIU~, for 120. A charge of $6 per week was made for board, but those who were unable to pay were allowed to stay free of charge. In June 1919 the club's facilities yere already overtaxed, and it was forced to arrange outside accommodation for some veterans. Another important feature of the club was its employment , agency. In the year ending May 31st, 1919, it placed 1,766 sete\;qnns in jobs. ~hikwas no doubt the aspect of the club to the hearts of its Chairman, W. Dalton, who Mainland Transfer Company, and the club's directors who included the President of B.C. Mills Timber and Trading Co., the Assistant Manager of the B.C. Electric Company, and F.W. Peters, General Superintendent of the C.P.R.. Their activities on behalf of the club allcmed these men to $* satisfy their patrioticQand philanthropic urges, -while at the,,, same time keeping a close watch on the potential supply of cheap labour. 2 3 The list of government and private schemes to help the returning soldiers indicates that there was a great deal of good will but less in the way of overall planning and co- -ordination. It was quite inadequate •’orthe long term 2roblerns that would face veterans. Though things appeared prosperous in early 1919, it vas not difficult t.0 see that za jor economic problems lay ahead. For the moment Vancouver did not have a problem with unemployment, but the jobs available and the reirrards they offered to the returned soldier were a& always of a type that encouraged him to return to civilian employment. 22 -- The experiences of veterans, as they rejoined the workforce, di f fered widely. They were not always 'grate•’ul* for what was offered and in several cases, it will be shown, they resisted the disciplines of low-grade industrial work. Those who had formerly been city employees were fortunate. While they ?\ were at the front the city had paid them a war allowance. They were automatically taken back on staff when. they returned. The employees who had been hired to iake their place were retired in order of seniority. At the other end of the scale were those who had no skills and no jobs to return 'to. The employment they were offered tended to be poorly paid, and low in status -- the kind of work that had formerly been given only to Orientals. Employers such as Perry Roe of Eburn Sawmills' claimed that they had trouble attracting returned soldiers. He li told the Royal Commission on Industrial Relations that the majority of the- employees in the mill were white, and his policy had been to assist all veterans that applied for work. But he found that many of them were not physic.ally able to do the work which, he admitted, was both hard and dirty. 2 4 Roe's comments were echoed by John H. MacDonald, Manager 3f the B.C. Manufacturing Company. He employed one-third 3riental and two-thirds white labour, but had difficulty in 1- retaining workers. 8e cGplained that he had fired six 3rientals and hird six veterans to take their place in sorting lumber. Fie told the Comniasion that the next day the b s~ldiersfailed to turn up for work. Blythe Rogers, the President of B.C. Sugar refineries, was similarly unhappy wlth the ex-servicemen he had' hired to replace Chinese workers in the company's box-making operation: ".. .so far it has been very. difficult because the returned soldiers do not seem to be able to do it, their fingers a.re not nimble enough." The enthusiasm the ex-soldiers brought to the job was no doubt dimmed by the low rate of pay. Fourteen dollars was not a princely sum for a forty hour work week; a month's work for Mr. Rogers would earn a married private with dependents considerably less than he had 2 5 been receiving in post-discharge pay. Another reawn for the soldiers' dislike of khe work may have been that they shark the prejudice of the rest of society in considering certain work fit only for a "Chinaman". They were reluctant to work beside members of a race they \ 14 considered inferior, and there is evidence that the Asiatics were not exactly keen on the idea themselves. The Royal * Commission on Industrial elations was told of one ex-soldier's experience. The man, who had been wounded in the war, went to work in a New Westminster sawmill. He was put to work beside Chinese and East Indians where he met with considerable hostility: " . . . .they laughed him out of his job.. .he said to - his wife...I do not mind the wood, but I cannot stick being 6 [in] slavery to Chinamen and Bindoos". 2 Though some veterans were at the mercy of grasping bosses, the experience of mst seems t3 have lain somewhere between the complete security offered to former civic employees and the degredation of ~orly?aid work that was considered fit only for "cooliesm. / - d. Temple: "he yas a pacifist, and.when we walked into the Engineer's local with a uniform on it was like a red -rag to a - bull. He 'didn" t know us at -allM. Blackwod, who eventually became an OBU member, left in disgust: "as 1ong.a~he's 28 business agent I won1 t belongm. Unions did not necessarily accept patriotism as an valid reason for employing veterans. In January 1919, the Brotherhood of Railway Engineers, Freight Handlers and Station men compained that the C.P.R.'s decision to replace women and ' unmarried men with returned soldiers was an attempt at union busting. It may be that C.P.R. Superintendent Peters had his .2 9 eye on the Returned Soldiers' Club as a source of labour. As, the soldiers returned to theAcity at a rate of approximately 2,000 per month, a delicate balance of forces kept most of them rsasonably content with their situation. The press and all levels of government drove home the i,dea that ' they were heroes whose war service had earned them not only praise, but also preference in employment. Post-di scharge pay meant that they were not immediately at the mercy of the city's less scrugu~ousemployers. The city was still feeling the effects of war 'time prosperity: there was ,+ certain amount D•’ unemployment, but demand for British Columbia's raw materials remained high and government war contracts had not yet been completed. Goverm'ent agencies worked hard to help veterans establish themselves in- suitable employment and to provide retraining for thse who were disabled. This balance', temporary as it was, was of critical PA 4 importariceI during- the industrial unrest that Gregory Kealey ' 30 has dubied the "Canadian ~abourRevoltR of 1919. r was one of several cities tjhat experienced an ented degree of social unrest. At this time veteran3 . unknown quantity, and both labour and capital competed for t6eirI loyalties. It is in this context that the views and actions f the leaders' and members of the ci tyts veteranst 1 organiza,e ions are of particular interest. i II I \ 1 1. Prime Minister Burden's speech cited in Clifford H. t Bowe~inqService;- The Story of the Canadian Legion, 1925-60, (Ottawa, 1960), pp. 3-4. / / l - 2. R.A.J. McDonald, 'Victoria, Vancouver and the ~conomic Development of British Columbian, in British Columbia: Historical Readings, ed. W.P. Ward and R.A.J. McDonald (Vancouver, 1981) pp. 368-395; CVA, City of vancouver, Wnnual 1919. Re~rt- ,3. Patricia Roy, Vancouver: An Illustrated History (Toronto, 1980) p, 87, and mVancouver, Mecca of the Unemployed" in Town and City, ed. A.J.F. Artibise (Regina, 1981) p. 4007 Paul Phillips, No Power Greater: A Century of Labour in B.C. (Vancouver, 1967) p. 61; Department of Labour Library, Que., John Brodie, Testimony to the Royal Commission on Industrial Relations, Vancouver, Vol. 1, p. 448. 4. A kistorp of Shipbuilding in British Columbia, 50th Anniversary Publicat ion, Boilermakers Industrial Local No (Vancouver, 1977) p. 10; Roy; Vancouver an Illustrated Bisto.ry, pp. 87-88; Phillips, pp. 70 and 169. 5. For wage r+tes see Eleanor Bartlett, "Real Wages and the Standard of ~i#ingin ~ancouver',- 1901-29," B.C. Studies, No, -51 (Fall 1981) p. '57; For taxation see R.T. Naylor "The Canadian State, the Accumulation of capital, and the Great War, * Journal of ~ahadianS.tpdies, (Fall/Winter 1981) pp. 31-32. 6. Diane L. Matters, "Public Welfare, Vancouver Style 1910-20,' Journal of Canadian Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Spring 1979) p. 13. 7. Quotation from Mart-in Robin "Re'gistration, Conscription , and Independent Labour Politics, J916-17, in Carl Berger, ed. , Conscription 1917 (Toronto, n.d.) p. .60; Phillip-st pp. 63-73, Gregory S. Kealey, '1919: The Canadian Labour Revolt", ~abour/~i%avail (spring 1984) p. 33; Labour Gazette, 1918, pp. 528, 611-2, 740, and 819. d 8. 'German cashn frorn.Vancouver World, ,3 August 1918, p. 16; #Flag flapping patriots* from ~orothy*~teeves, The Compassionate Rebel {Vancouver, 1977) p.41; R.A. ~ohnson, J, 'W Cuaproraise, hkt Political =&ding: The Rarxian Socialist Tradition in British Columbiag, Ph.D. dissertation UniversTty of British Columbia, 1975, p.; 345, note 40. 9. Desmnd Morton, Canada and War (Torpnto, 1981) pp. 84-5; David J. Bercuson, Fools and Wise Men: The Rise and Fall of the One Big Union (Toronto, 1978) pp. 91-92. 10. Vancc ver Public Library ,-North West History Collect ion, Alex Cairns and A.M. Yetman, =The History of the Veterans' Movement, 1916-l925", The Manitoba Veteran, Special Issue : -1 1961, p. 55. . I of the Veterans' Movement", pp. February 1919, p. 1; 18 September 1919, p. I 12. Morton, "oblest and Bestn, pp. 75-85; Public Archives of t British Columbia (hereafter PABC) , Legislative Assembly Sessional Clippings Book, 15 March 1918. 13. Morton, "Noblest and .Bestn, p. 83. ' 14. Desmond Morton and Glen Wright, HThe Bonus Campaign, 1919-21: Veterans and the Campaign for Re-establi shment," Canadian Historical Review, LXTV; 2, 1983, p. 151; CVA, Pamphlet Collection, "British Columbia Yearbook, 192OU, Great War Veterans Association, pp. 32-33. a 15. Paul M. Koroscil, "oldiers' in British Columbia, 1915-1920," B.C. (Summer 1982) pp. 63-87. - 16. James Struthers, No ~aultof .Their Own: Unemployment and the Canadian Welfare State, 1919-1941 (Toronto, 1983) pp. 16-22, 37-39; Canada, Sessional Papers, 1921, No. 14, Department of Soldiers' Civilian Re Establishment, Annual Report, pp. 90-92 ; British Columbia': Sessional Papers,. 1920, Vol. 2, 'Report of the British Columbia Returned ~oldiers'Aid ~om&ssio~",p. M 35. 17. Cairns and Yetman, "History of the Veteranst Movementn p. 15. 18. Province, 21 December 1918, p. 1. 19. GWA, "British Columbia Yearbook, 1920m, pp. 79-83; PABC, British Columbia Re turned Soldiers Aid Commission Records, Microfilm B-2515, Roll 4. 20. CVA, City Clerk's Correspondence, File 13-E-5, Soldiers' File, 1919; Province, 19 November 1920, p. 35. P 21. CVA, Minutes of Fire, Police and Returned Soldiers' Cornmi ttee, on Hicrof ilm, MCR-1-22; CVA; City of Vancouver Annual Report, 1919, p. 20. 22, B,C, Veterans Weekly, 27 March 1919, p. 13; Vancouver City Directory, 19.19; CVA, ~it~..~lerk'sCorrespondence, File 13-E-7, Brotherhood House to Mayor Gale, 4 March 1920, - Salvation Army to Mayor Gale, 31 January 1920. - 23. Province, 5 June 1921, p. 4; Vancouver City Directories, 1920 and 1921. 24. For war allowance see CVA, City Council Minutes, 30 December 1918; CVA, City of Vancouver Annual Report, 1918, p. 19; Perry Roe, testimony to the Royal Commission on Industrial Relations, Vol. 1, p. 372. 25, John H. MacBonald, testimony to the Royal Commission on Industrial Relations, Vol. 1. p. 315; "nimble fingersn quotation from testimony of Blythe Rogers to the Royal Commission on Industrial Relations, Vol. 1, p. 529. 26. Mrs Walter Crosfield testimony to the Royal Commission on Industrial Relations, Vol. 1, pg. 562-563 27. "Damn the retu;ned soldiersn from Province, 20 December 1918, p. 7; Public Archives of Canada (hereafter PA^, Department of Veterans Affairs, KG 38, Vol. 171, unsigned SCR memorandum on condi,tions affecting ex-members of the forces'; British Columbia, December 1919. - 28. 'Fred. W. Walsh, secretary of Vancouver Metal Tradesr Council, testimony to the Royal Commi ssion on Indust'r ial -Relations, Vol. 1, p. 54; Special Collections, University of British Columbia, International Association of Machinists, Local 695, Minute Book, 1919-1932, 14 October 1919; CVA, Add MS 381, Vancouver Typographical Union, Executive Meeting Minute Book, August 1921-December 1930, p. 255; Mike ~ouds', Firin Iron, International Union of Operating Engineers .&(*Vancouv&z, 1982) p. 19. 29. B.C. Veterans Weekly, 20 February 1919, p. 13. 30. Kealey, "The Canadian ~abour~evolt", p. 29.. CHAPTER 2 , - The Veterans Organize. ....a new order of things has come into existence since active warfare has terminate&. These - altered ondi tions have resulted in new ideas and notions %t at must reform our social systeb. . C- B.C. veterans Weekl Special Souvenir Edftion r June 1919 1 '7 - h Canadian historians have given a great deal of attention 4 to the Greet War, but comparAtively little to its aftermath I from the soldier's point of view. James Eayrs, Desmond Morton, and Glen Wright, who have described ve te-rans organizations in i the immediate post-war era, have focused their attention on the fight for a cash bonus, which caused a large splinter group to break away from the Great Mar Veterans' Association (GWVA), the largest organization. Despite the authorities' fear that the - returned men might make common cause with labour radicals and the major role that veterans played in- the ~innipegGeneral Strike, as outlined by .l)avida Bercuson, little attention has been' paid to the role of exT&ervicemen in othe'r cities. Though the GWVA was of major national importance during this time of turmoil, the organization is not well known. Desmond Morton b views it as an egalitarian association encompassing a wide 1.1 I range of viewpoints, where no one section was able to maintain ) , control over another. It ig hard to reconcile this idealized view with the fact that the authorities used the GWVA as a weapon to keep veterans on "the right track", and it appears that in Vancouver the state and the economic elite used the GWVA as an ageat for the political manipulation of 2 veterans. * Though the GWVA ;as the la.rgest veterans1 group, both locally and nationally, it was only one of many that we& formed during and immediately after the war. In 1918, its year of incorporation, it had a national membership of 18)300, a q' number which grew to approximately 180,000 as demobilization took place. Nineteen-nineteen was its most$uccessful year; in > the Greater Vancouver Area, the Va~couverBranch had approxima teLy 2,500 members, New Westminster over 600, and South Vancouver nearly 200. The GWVA constitution listed its aims as pres'ervation of the memory of the dead, the erection of monuments, provision of suitable burial plares and the , r inculcation of loyalty to Canada and the Empire. Membership was open to all who. had served militarily; both volunteer and conscript. Its egalitarian ethos was emphasized by the use of the word "comraden among &llmembers, and by the organization's fight to get pensions equalized for all T 3 ranks. The association's close ties with all lavels of government, however, hampered its ability to be an effective advocate. The Dominion Executive, the top l.ayer of its three - tiered structure, was based in Ottawa'where it hdd close links with the federal government. Three members of the executive x 32 comprised the soldiers' Advisory Members to the Select Parliamentary Commi tted on Veterans' Affairs. Isolated in the nation's capital, with semi-official status, these GWVA officials had more in common with politicianf and bureaucrats 1 than with newly demobilized so~er~.-~,In45#itish Columbia, local dranch executives of the Association formed the majority - of the local demobilization committees sponsored by the British Columbia Re turned Soldiers' Aid Commission. 4 Thr.oughout the period'under review, the executive of the B GWVA's British Columbia Provincial Command, and the executive J of the Vancouver branch were largely identical and formed a ' - leadership eli-te. Many of them were part of, or closely allied to, government bureaucracies. In 1919 the executive of the h Yancouver Branch included four employees of the Federal 3 Department of Soldiers' Civilian Re-establishment, an employee of the Soldiers' Settlement Board, T.M.Harnett (BCRSAC member & and Yanager of the Returned Soldiers Club), Walter Drifinan (a f~rmerhotel and .restaurant operator) and Cambridge graduate Ernie paigb whs was editor of the B.C. Veterans bieeklY.' It was a grsup that perceived itself as a 1 conservative force. s The rnili tary authorites and the RNWMF' had n; doubts about the role of the Vancouver GWA. It was 'run by the indirect: influence of officers", in order to "mould public opinion in the right direction". Its members were "well controlled by a b 2resident of sound.views and he is supported by a strong committee of returned men'. The city's businessmen and ,'- I. -% politicians gave the association their enthusiastic support. On. New Year's Day 1919, the ~ancouverBranch moved into the former headquarters of the Vancouver Club. The building had,been ' refurbished for the occasion: the walls of the lounge were painted with the flags of all former wartime allies ---except Russla. The opening ceremony was attended by many dignitaries; 3.3. Bell Irving remarked that there was .no organization that the Vancouver Club would sooner hand over to tnan tne WA. He then warned "that there must be nothing of the element that had led to .chaotic conditions in Russia. Those ideas must never take root in Canada". Lt. Col. R.C. Cooper, M.P. told the gathering that the aim had always been to " get "level headed" nen on the executive of Lhe association and that no trace of oolshevism would be tolerated. 6 The B.C. Veterans Weekly was an important propaganda ~301. The magazine, which was the official organ of the ass~ciation'sprmincial level, was published bi-weekly. It csrrled news of the varlous branches, and articles written by :~dlvldualveterans. The editor was well aware that there was ;enera1 agreement amqng the readers that reform was essential. The edrtarial content of the magazine shows an ambivalent attitde twarbs this i3ea. The B,C. Veterans Weekly chimed that it stood far: ..,fair play and the advancement of a spirit t of unity among citizen soldi-ers which is very necessary at this present time, because a new order 3f things has come into existence since active warfare has terminated. These altered conditions have resulted in new ideas and notions which must reform our social system. 7 Paige's editorials recognized that the wealth which had been amassed by war profiteers had cailed into question the morality of capitalism: The returned men are not capitalists; their sympathies are with the poor who struggle to obtain " a mere existence. Pork barons and war profiteers would not receive much consideration, but would on the contrary be expected to disgorge. By all means let labour be an active party in the prosperity of the country; the returned men intend to be such, but partners must, of necessity co-operate or else the' business of the firm would be ruined. .An actual co-opera,tion between labour and capital. would bring all the returned men in, and the social improvements labour is advocating would receive almost unanimous support. 8 In the post-war euphoria even the GWVA had sent delegates t~ the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council. Editor lip service to socialism, providing it was brought "free, democr3tic methods", sentiments more characteristic of -, Sritish than Canadian intelleztuals. But the editor, like those wh=, qttended the opening of GWVA headquarters, beliefred that "Bolshevism should be stamped out". In the columns of the 3.c. Veterans Weekly fear a•’ bolshevism is nore evident than a desire to work ,with organized labour or socialist Daige was harrifed when the Western Labour Conference, dminated by the advance of the radical One Big Union (OBU), suggested the f~rrnation'of joint soldi er/labouc,'cbrnmi ttees: Sucn resolutions of course are Jorth no more than the value given to them by the men who pass them. Soldiers, as a body, though sympathetic to labour in all its legitimate claims can have no truck vi th rev~lutionaries, especially those of the Spartacan and Bolsheviki order. 10 I The editor clearly saw himself, his magazine, and the GWVA, as / having an obligation: ' . . .i t iq, impossible, either within or without the association to put a check on that [soldiersg . . protest] movement, therefore it has become a duty. of the responsible officers to guide and direct :c @ward- beneficial-. ends. 11 The GWVA Vancouver executive* was always careful to 'stress the concept of comradeship, which, in theory, minimized the differences between ex-of f icers and former members of the rank and file. Walter Drinnan, the Association's paid organizer - promoted the idea at the opening of a new Branch: Loyal labour enlisted by the thousands when the war broke out, and so did loyal manhood of every other shade of the community. Lords, dukes, earls, and millionaires were no laggardswhen the call for men came, and in the deadly struggle that followed and which ended so gloriously for the csuse of freedom, the labouring man was a comrade in the ranks with banker, broker, or any other individual. But the labouring man who did not go to the front and did not do his loyal "bit" in some way or other. ..cannot see that-the war has in reality done away with the old time "class" distinctions. He does not realise that the officer who led his men, suffering with them, sometimes suffering more himself'? in order to spare the rank and file, is a "loved" comrade of his men. 12 In practice the GWA Vancouver ex/ cutive's actions opposed organized labour in the city, thus eJ fectively giving its support to business interests. ~nti-aliensentiment could be used to'fower wages by firing aliens and replacing them with GWVA's policies led directly to this kind of situation. It already had a record pf persecuting aliens. '1n April 1918 it had co-operated in a national anti-alien campaign; At a large 3 6 demonstration held in Vancouver its speakers had called for the interrynent of enemy aliens at a low wage for "industrial p'urposes" . The organization's post-war attitude towards this group was indicated in a-December 1918, B.C. Veterans Weekly cartoon, which shwed a large hand, labelled "returned soldier*, crushing its enemies: profiteers, landlords, exploiters and aliens. The Vancouver branch focused its 13 attention on the latter. 1n late January 1919, the Vancouver. branch called on' employers to replace alien enemies with vetep-ns,- charging - P that'aliens were preaching "dangerous doctrinesn in the city's shipyards and at gatherings of the Federated Labour Party. The GhiVA neeting, with its appeal to the baser human emotions was ?art a•’a larger national strategy. It coincided with clashes a between socialists and veterans in Winnipeg and Calgary,- and 'Jancouver's military authorities were alerted. The city's socialist meetings were rescheduled and a meeting of Mayor ' Gale, veterans' organizations and socialist leaders was hastily convened.. All present expressed themselves in favour of law A - and order. TheY_ta_bo_urweekly, B.C. Federationist, --- - . - -- \ reminded its readers that the removal of aliens would not sacure enough jobs f~rall returned men, and that anti-alien smtiments and bofshevik labels were being used to prevent inity between returned men and workers: "The distinction that is 5einrj made between soldiers and workers is purposefully nade. ..The retu-rned men in most cases are and always have been, . + 37 - 14 members of the working class*, The disapproval of the B.C. Federationist did not k preveewe Vancouver GWVA, which used the terms 'alienR, i "enemy alie "foreignerM interchangably, from trying to implement its ant{-alien policy. A committee, composed mainly ' i, cd ex-officers, met with representatives of the B.C. Manu facturers' Admciat ion and the Employers' Association. The -2 employers' organizations agreed to supply them with a list of enemy aliens ~h3could be replaced by veterans. It was reported later that f~rtymembers of the B.C. Loggers' Association had pr~misednot to employ aliens and to give prefence to veterans. when hiring, and that the majority of firms i.n the city were filling vacancies with returned men and refusing to hire foreigners. It is not, however, clear to what extent this development represented a replacement of aliens, or f 5 to what extent it applied only to hiring new eaployees,- In one case the GdV.4 policy -of replacement of aliens by veterans led to wage cuts. The anti-union policies of Granby Consolidated Mining were notorious; it had quashed all of its Anyox employees' attempts to organize. The company pronounced itself eager to comply with the GWVA's anti-alien policy, and, when organizer Walter Drinnan visited Anyox in March 1919, - it informed him that sixty of its 135 alien employ*s had been discharged. The firm was eager to see a branch of the ZWIA established in the town. The branch's executive was to act for the workers in di sputes between th,e company and employees. Drinnan was informed that two hundred more returned men were needed to fill vacancies. They were offered excellent working conditions including housing for married men, picture shows and tennig. He was enthusiastic: Their [the Granby Company's] ready sympathy and anxiety to do all in their power to give employment at fair wages and under decent cohditions 9 to returned men was an object lesson. ..well worthy of consideration by employers in other parts of B.C. 16 %hind this rosy picture lay the company's wage cut of $1 a day which had led t3 a strike earlier in the month. Granby iras r~lyingon t-he inflm of returned soldiers to feplace the strike'rs. It is hardly surprising. that Ocean Falls expressed an ? interest in the s33e arrangement as Granby, or that the ?.3ssland mine managers promised the GWVA ~rganizertheir .72 Sot all members of the WVA were as susceptible to fed sf enemy aliens, 3r t3 sinplistic ideas on solving employment sr30le?-is, as was tne '+;anzouver executive. i3rarich members fr2;uently expressed opposition to resolutions put forward by -,.,e i ieaders, but they a?par ta nave been both outweighed and , *II--~~~.~3nc,euvere=l. in Yay 1919 several branch meabers tried to gas3 3 resolution barring eapLoyees of the tu.0 senior levels of , ;3,iernment frm the executive. This would have ousted the sranzn's leaders vh2, in add~tionto being government e,z?loyees, were ex-afficers. Thg- attempted coup which was e7grneerad by 337 Cathard, the leader of another veterans' jr2up, f3iled in the! face of vigorous opposition by branch 18 ?resident, 2ev LX. Zhictaker 3rd Walter Drinnan. The GWA branches in the province did not all think alike. Private Tom Barnard, union activist, FLP member', and President of the New Westminster branch, felt that the unrest that was sweeping the nation was caused by the .production of %goodsfor profit rather than for use. The problem of bolshevism could be cured by'removing its root caus'es: social injustice and the workers' fear of unemployment, sickness, old age, and their . dependents' lack of security. ~h\eresolutions of the New Westminster GivVA reflect the ideaah thespre-sident. It- *-P - demnded that Goverment provide citizens with enough work to allow them to maintain themselves in comfort by their labour. Old people should be provided with pensions. Under Barnard's leadership the branch rejected the prevailing anti-alien and ant-i-Asiatic sentiments. The Victoria GWVA branch also dissented. Tnroughout the pust-war period it worked with the 19 ci.tyls labour movement. -. But in summer 1919 it was to be the' attitude of the Vancouver Branch and the leadership group that controlled it that was to be reported in the daily prd-nd that would, help to shape public perception of the returne'k __soldiers point ~f view. It may have been the pr~liferati~nof veteranst groups that was responsible for the GWVA Vancouver executive's apparent strangleh~ldon its members. Those -who were B disenchanted dld not need to expend their energies on dislodging the leaders. There gere,many other groups ri th differedphilosophies that they could join. i7 i7 I -.I The Arny and Savy Veterans (A&H), whose Vancouver unit had W 0 % d m c m a 0 ?J Q) m f;; . TI a a a 'a, ' I: LC 0 .n lza 'I X a,' cn 4 m r( 8 n u'ua 3UW cnd c a C oaa Ca,Sa,ma, 0 C -4 htn E.44 -4 %!-': .40 C m '0 tn a,' -4 a E C Ll E a tn I, 0 cn a, U $4 3 3* 0 -4 rl l-i u C a -k a 0 h 0 u 0 W C CV a, 'a: a, r\l Jz C U) JJ a, 0 a, t s tnk Su u u a a Ll a a, a, JJ L: a sLl k C k accl-4 c, rl 3 .~kUQ,a,xEi 0 0 a,a kPUk u 0 C k3 a0 '2 ama~co maw -4 a, tn L: -4 C ri x -4 C 0 5= a.4 a, C guw *. tn J2 u c 0 cr: a,-cc 8 : . -4 -rlO\xEC rn .I4 h W tn ~~OJJOL).ar:ga -tia d $4 4 u 0 b a -4 a,-4 0-4L.r ax a, e -4 C 0 3tn'43r:OC k 'u a, C' a a ama uualo a u tn. -4 r-i C LC u c4 al a, tn C -4 '0 a, JJ L4 C s Ll r: a U L E' rl -4 a ad U -4 a, u r: 0 u 4 k il a 0 t W breakers. In attempting-tg get work for its members the Khaki Union undercut the Longshoremenst Union's bid to unload the Amur in May 1919. But seamen and firemeh supported the - I longshoremen,' making it impossible for the Khaki Union t6 fuliil the contract. Afterwards, a disgruntled longshoreman remarked that the name should be changed from Khaki Union to "Scab Unionn. In the economic conditions of 1919, the only way . that the Khaki Union could obtain work for its members was to undercut the wages of established "nions such as the ~ongshoremens'-, or to contract for work itself, at starvation wages. In May 1919 Hallam maintained that the organization wa,s providing emplgyment for the majority of its 400 members at 50 cents or more per hour, but this was a gross exaggeration. The Khaki Union member who, in three weeks, built a garage foP total wage 'of $30 appears to have been more typical. If \ the union had been so successful it would not have completely' 5 5 faded from the scene later in 1919. 2 The Khaki Labour Union's portrayal of Vancouver's labour \ activists as "un-British" was ironic -- in 1919 the majority -. 1 , * of the city's union leaders were of B~itishorigin. Many ex-soldiers were union members and in the Vancouver of 1919 I they were able to find a,yeterans' organization that expressed pro-union sentiments: the 600-member Comrades of the Great War. - The Comrades' membership qualifications were even more exclusive than those of the A&N; i.t was limited to those who had seen active service at the front. There was an allied branch in Victoria and affiliated members were s~atteredabout - the British Columbia interior and even in Washington State. The faciliLies of the clubhouse of the Vancouver Comrades, at 518 Hastings, includ-ed a lounge', a canteen and g billiard room. President Sam Gothard's description of it as a home that members could make their residence, indicates that it also had sleeping accommodation. Gothard, was a printer, employed by the Vancouyer World, and most of the the members were working men, many of whom were employed in the shipyards. In December 1918 the Victoria Comrades, along with other veterans' groups, P attempted to form an alliance between labour and soldiers' . organizations. In that same month the Vancouver Comrades instigated a walk-out at Coughlanrs in protest $gainst the b6 firing of one of their members, Comrade Anderson. The Comrades and thei! president were harsh critics of the GWVA. In a letter to Prime Minister Borden, Gothard claimed that the rival organization was a " joken, controlled by an .ex-of f icer clique which did not represent the majority of returned men in the city. Intelligence reports$decribed ; ,Gothard as a "former socialistn and a "scoundr"e"ln~~~egorizing him with E.E., Winch and Victor--.. Mi-dgely as "very dangerous agitator[slM.The puthorities' preoccupation with Gothard and' their frequent estimates of the number of soldiers his orsbniza tion controlled indicate that he had considerable influence on the local scene27 In addition to his attempts to oust the GWVA's-Vancouve,r executive, Gothard continued his support of t.he VTLC aft~rthe withdrawal of the A&N and the WA. Re helped to organize a joint soldier/labour meeting in April 1919 where he made his. - -1 allegiances clear, declaring tRat he never had a more decent reception than that he had been given by Winch and Midqely, the F -- /. -.-. /' so called *anafchistsn. Eothard spo that /- existed between veterans; he cited fifteen recent appointments of ex-ef f icers to governrirent positions as evidence that the real interests of the returned soldiers lay with organized ' d labou;. This led RNWMP Commissioner Horrigan to remark that a the Comrades were the playground of the "barrack room lawyer type of individual.. .more suited6 to the company of the T & L C than the more stable communities". 28 Though Desmond Morton and Terry Copp maintain that "Canada's unions missed an opportunity when they showed little 4 interest in the problems of returned sol'diers", this was not the case in Vancouver. In addition to 'co-operation between the Comrades and labourILone veterans1 group qas even more. closely tied to organized labour -- the Ex-Soldiers' and Sa ilors' Labour Council. This group, formed by the VTLC in conformity with the the Western Labour Conference's resolution, bore' the - same name as a group that had been active in Seattle during 8 that city's General Strike. There is no doubt that withdrawal of supporf by the GWVA and the A&N from the labour body presented a problem. The Comrades' membership qualifications excluded many veterans, and not all disenchanted members of the GWVA could join, The Ex-Soldiers' and Sailorsf Labour Council -welcomed all pro-labour veterans. The authorities, fearing the influence the new group might have on the city's veterans, kept a close eye on its progress. 29 'j; The constitution of the Ex-Soldiers ' and Sailors l Council made the isgue of class paramount -- workers and soldiers had - common interests. The sacrificies of war had not been equally shared: . . . .during the whole of the War period, while ,-. many of us were engaged in fighting, the rest of the workers produced enough t~~maintainus in munitions, equipment,w food etc. kept themselves and their . d --_ dependents, but mantained in idleness and luxurg a master class and produced many more millionaires and profiteers. 30 The grba'p declared that no solution for, the present economic '. ,. and s~cialsystem could be found until the system for prof it had been replaced by a system for use. The constitution also allowed a careful examination of all would-be members; they had to be workers who subscribed to tRe principles of the group. New applications, which needed the support of two members, were subject to the scrutiny of th&,executive. 3 1 2+ The letterhead of the new organization reflected its ideology. It showed a worker marching in step with a soldier .and a sailor. Jack Kavanagh, a leading figure in Vancouver's OBU wrote its first leaflet, 'The Soldier's Welcome Home", which made indirect reference to the Vancouver GWVA, in its description of returned soldiers' organizations which were *...ruled by the officers who ruled us czar-like lover there'". The leaflet also attempted to heal some of the wounds left by previous strife between veterans and labour. It claimed that the minds of soldiers had been poisoned against the labour leaders who were the very men who were doing the most to solve contemporary problems. It ended with a threat: " . ,.the employing class promised'us our reward for defending kheir interests. If they cannot give it we must take it",3 2 c 3 The Ex-Soldi erst and Sa ilors' Council sought the moral and , I~\ financial help of the province' s .labour organizations. The L.. / unions responded 'in\everal ways. The Loggers donated the use . of thetr hall at 61 Cordova Street. Some unions appointed veterans as "walking delegatesn to get recruits for the new organization. The steam and Operating Engineers, the Lofigshoremen, the &ilerrnakers' l hi on and 'the Machinists' Union, gave financial support. But even the largest donation, $100 from the VTLC, was a tiny amount compared with the amount of government funding to other veterans' groups. 3 3 Just how much succesq th,e new group had in the spring of 1919 is difficult to estimate. The B.C. Federationist reported- its meetings, and grinted fetters from its supporters 3, attacking t)~GWVA. The authorities' reports indicate that, though the Ex-Soldiers and Sailors Counci,l was., regarded as a P bad influence on veterans, it was perceived as a lesser u threat than the Comrades of the Great War. Only fragmentary evidence remains of a third in•’luential veterans ' group which supported labour, The Campaigners of the Great War was recognized by the civic authorities as a ~reterans' group that gualified for funding, but it is not known - if it received a grant. Scattered references to the 23apaigner~occur frm 1318 until early 1921. Its club - , operated out of the C~lonialTheatre on the corner of - Granville and Dunsrnuir. The sales of the group's magazine the Campaigner, a publi ca'tion which claimed to have a wide circulation in Vancouver during 1919, supported the operation. The size of its membership is difficult..to assess. In 1919 it claimed to have 1,000 members, all of whom had seen active service at the front, but thiskclaim cannot- be verified using official records. Though G. Simpson was the Campaignersf president, the moving force behind the organization was R.H. Young, its secretary. Young, who was also editor of the Campaigner, had been a victim of a wartime gas attack and was to die of heart failure brought on by this condition in 1921. But despite his fragility he and the Campaigner~~were staunch supporters of labour. During the joint soldier/labaur meeting .in April 1919 he appeared. on the platform beside Gothard and members of the VTLC. 3 4 The veterans' groups that have been examined in some detail, were chosen because of their influence, their ideologies and their interaction with labour. But many other gr~upsexisted in Vancouver and others would be formed in later 1 years. The Imperial Veterans, a national organization that had 3 V3ncouver membership of 500 in 1919, was composed of veterans ,wh3 had 1ef.t Canada to join the Imperial forces. On their return to Canada these nen found the benefits paid by the British authorities sere much less than tbse given to veterans of the C.E. P. Under the leadership of Major T'.B. Thomas the or~anization lobbied merriment for beneMts for their nembers. In 1919 the Vancouver Imperial Veterans tended to stay clear of politics, but were to become more radical during the unemployment crisis of 1920-22. Other veterans' associations in the city included those that dealt specific~llywith disabled __L veterans, and military clubs, such as the Seaforth Overseas Club, and the Vancouver Overseas Artillery Association&3 5 It must also be borne in mind that the press and the reports of intelligence agencies give a ,diStorted picture by their emphasis on the political aspects of veterans' groups. Y The clubs, where ex-soldieis could relax and talk with their war buddies, were no doubt the main attraction for the majority of kheir members. The organizations also dispensed practical help in the form of free meals and clothing for members who , were down on their luck. Though there was undoubtedly some hostility between ex-~fficersand other ranks, the picture is not a11 black and white. Many officers kept in touch with the + men farrnerly under their command, and took a kindly, if t 6 2aternali stic interest in their rellbeipg. 3 Ir There were also many veterans who avoided ex-soldiers' groups -- who wanted no contact with anything that reminded then of the war. Despite the oft-stated opinions of the GWVA and the opposing ideas of the Ex-Soldiers and Sailors Labour Cguncil, the views of the majority of veterans were unknown, arid, as Canada entered its most critical periud of zgnfr~ntationin Hay 1919, the authorities were unsure where , -~?eterans'loyalties wsuld lie. / Notes a" , 1. B.C. Veterans ~eekLy,Special Souvenir Issue, June 1919, p.51 c: 3 2. James Eayrs, In Defence of Canada, Vol. 1 (Toronto, 1974) Chapter 11; Horton & Wright, "The Bonus Campaign; Morton, ~anadaand War, pp. 87-9, David Bercuson, Confrontation at Winnipeg: Labour, Industrial Relations and che General Strike (Montreal, 1974) pp. 170-5; "on the right track" from RNWMP correspondence cited in Bercuson, Fools and Wise Men, p. 91. b ' 3. Eayrs, Vol. 1, p, 44; Cairns and Yetman, 'History of the Veterans' Movement', p. 58; PABC, BCRSAC Records, microfilm reel B-2515, Applications for Grants. La 6. . PAC, Department of Militia and Defence, RG 24, Vol. 2571, File A HQC 2941, unsigned memorandum, 6 February 1919 and Gen. G.* Godson to Adjutant General, 2 February 1919; PAC, Royal Canadian (North West) Mounted Police, RG 18,-~ol.1933, File G 5791, Secret and Confidential Monthly Report, Vancouver, March 1919; Bell-Irving quoted in Daily World, 2 January 1919, p. . 11; Cole Cooper quoted in Vancouver Sun, 2 January 1919, p.7. 7. B.C. Veterans Weeklv, S~ecialSouvenir Issue, June 8. Beg. Veterans Weekly, 18 December 1918, p. 9. 9. B.C. Veterans Weekly, 6 February 1919, p. 12. 10. B.C. Veterans Weekly, 1 May.1919, p. 1. 11. B.C. Veterans Weekly, Special Souvenir Issue, June 1919, p. 11. 12, British tolumbian, 26 June 1919, p. 1. 13. WA, City Clerk's Correspof-dence, Vol. 70, File A, Secratary, Vancouver GWVA to Mayor Gale, 13 ~pril,1918; -B.C. Veterans Weekly, 12 December 1918, p. 1. 14, 'dangerous doctrines" frm the Province, 31 January 1919, pp 6 h 12; disturbances described in the Vancouver -Sun, 5 February 1919 pp. 1 & 3; PAC, RG-24, Vol 2571, File A. HQC 2941, General LecLie to Ad jutant General, 3 ~ebr~ry 1919; call for unity in the B.C. Federationist 31 January F19, p. 4. b 15. List of enemy aliens referred to in the B.C. Veterans -<. -Weekly, 13 February 1919, p. 11; hiring policies discussed in Leckie to fidjutant General, 3 February 1919; PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2571, File FIQC 28l7(?), unsigned .memorandum, 27 February 1919. 16. B.C. Veterans Weekly, 13 February 1919, p. 11 and 6 March 1919, p, 14. 17. B.C. Federationist, 28 March 1919, p. 1. .18. ,B.C. Vete.r*ns Weekly, 17 April 1919, p. 13 and 1 May 1919, p. 6; attempted coup documented in-PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2571, File HQC 28l7( 2) unsigned- con•’ident ial memorandum, 24 April 1919. 19. T.A. Barnard, testimony to the Royal Commission orl Industrial ~elations,~01.- 1, p. 504,-B.C. veterans Weekly, 27 Febrllary 1919, p. 26 and 10 April 1919, p. 27. 2 0, Army and Navy Veterans, Vancouver Headquarters (Private Collection), Proceedings of the First Annual Convention, Winnipeg, May 11-15, 1918; CVA, Pamphlet Collection, Army and t Navy Convention Booklet, 1934; PABC, BCRSAC Records, , microfilm reel B-2515, application for grant, 3 May 1920. 21. province, 14 May 1919, p. 3; B.C. Veterans Weekly, 13 March 1919, p. 44. 22. Province, 10. January 1919, p. 24; J.H.S. Hallam, testimony to Royal Commission on Industrial Relations, Vol. 1. 1919, pp. 246-262. 23. CVA, City Clerk's correspondence, J.H.S. Hallam' to J. Coughlan and Sons, 7 April 1919. a 24. Ibid. 25. Hallam, testimony to Royal Commission on Indu'strial Relations, Val. 1, pp, 246-62; B,C. Federationist, 6 June 1919, pr 1. 26, PABC, BCRSAC RecordsI microfilm reel B-2515, Sam Gothard to 3. Pyke, 18 December, 1919; Sam Gothard to Major Robertson, 18 February 1926; X.J. P~lkington,Vancouver City Cofrtptrolhr to Comrades of the Great War, 16 March 1920, Comrades of the Great War, membership list as of ~ay1919; Victoria Times, 6 September 1918, p. 7; Province, 18 December 1918, p.1. 27. Gothard's letter to Borden cited in Eayrs, Vol. 1, pp. 42 and 46; PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2571, Files HQC 2817(2) and HQC .# ! 29. Desmond Morton with Terry Copp, Working People: An Illustrated History of the Canadian Labour Movement (Ottawa, 1984) Revised edition, p. 110; Robert L. ~reidheim,-The Seattle General Strike (Seattle, 1964) p. 11-12. 30. PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2571, File HQC 2817, B.C. Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Labour Council Constitution, enclosed with RNWMP, E. Division, Secret and Confidential Report, 4 April 1919. 31, -Ibid. 32. UBC Special Collections, Prince Ru rt TLC Papers, File 1-2, B.C. Ex-Soldiers1 and Sailors' La ror Council to Prince . Rupeft Trades and Labour Council, 1 May 1919; Copy of Bulletin in PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2571, File HQC 2817(3), Department df Militia, Report of District Intelligence MD No. 11, 13 June 1919. , +. 33. B.C. Fedqrationist, 2 May 1919, p. 1; PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2571, File HQC 28l7(2), Major Jukes to Asst. Director, Military ~ntelligence,7 April 1919. 34. CYA, City Clerk's Correspondence, File 13-E-2, H.J. Young to ~ancouverCity Council, May 1919; CVA, Vancouver City Council Minutes, 22nd May 1919; Vancouver City Directories, 1919 andm~.~.Federationist, 25 April 1919, p. 1; Province, 2 February 1921, p. 7. 35. CVA, City of Vancouver Annual Report, 1919, p. '20; PABC, BCRSAC Records, Microfilm B-2515. 36. New Westminster Regimental- Archives (Private Collection), File on Battalion Paymaster T,S. Annandale. - -. \ 1 CHAPTER 3 1919 - The ~eqeralStrike and its Aftermath. t' t' -=we can only keep the returned soldiers wdh us, I am of the opinion that in case of trouble there are enough good loyal people who will stand behind the troops to make the outcome certain. On the other hand, if the disturbing elements win over a large number of returned men then the situation will become very serious. 6 RNWMP Secret and Confidential Monthly Report, lVancouver, February 19 19. In 1919 organized labour was in a militant mood in Vancouver as throughout the nation. But underneath the militancy there were deep divisions.. In the spring of 1919; the Weeern Labour Conference resolved to set up One Big Union. ~h;OBU believed that the existing craft unions were obsolete, @=-! and that effective .action cauld come whe-pral3 workers were united in one organization. Its programme advocated the use of the General S-trike, and eschewed electqral activities. But Conference delegates were not unanimous; a significant minority believed the future of labour lay with the existing union and socialist or labour party structures. The Vancouver Trades and Labour Council decided to support the OBU's organizing drive, and voted funds for this purpose, but it too was divided on the issue. The organizing drive coincided with a growing militancy among the workers. Even before the OBU could take official form the advance of the "one big union from below" resulted in an outbreak of General Strikes. Veterans we're a further complicating factor in an already complex situation.. Some had returned to their unions, some were members of politically active veterans' groups. Others were newly returned and existing on their post-discharge payments. Both pro and competed for their support, which was I, general strike. 2 2- Their "loyaltyn'~sfirst an issue in Winnipeg, where the \ metal and building trade-s st.cCk on May lst, demanding . c/ recognition of their joint bargaiFing ,&its, the Metal and Building Trades' councils. --"_ The stUS were supported by the --A city's Trades and Labour Council which voted for a General Strike to begin on Thursday May 15th. ~hou~h-many may have had doubts about the wisdom of the act 'on, workers supported the decision of the majori ty; between twenty-fourt- and thirty-•’ive thousand walked out on May 15th. he city was sharply divide8, its anti-strike forces organized as the Citizenst Cammittee of 'One Thousand. It was hoped that the veterans could be persuaded not to support the strike. As the, walkout began, the Winnipeg GWA, the Imperial Veterans and the A&N / called a mass meeting of ex-servicemen. The executives of these associations confidently expected to get the city's veterans to declare neutrality in bhe strike. They hoped it would be possible to form companies of returned- men to assist the authorities in the maintenance of law and order. 3 They had a nasty shock. The meeting was a disaster; - 1 between 2,500 and 3,000 veterans shouted 'dwn the official speakers. The resolution on neutrality was o~ertur'ned~and replaced by one that declared the veterans' full sympathy with the strikers. An RNWMP agent who attended the meeting recorded * his impressions: "...in spite of the resolution regarding the maintenance, of law and order, and in spite of the attitude of the executives of the various associations toward ~3lshevism, the individual re.turned soldier is NOT TO BE DEPENDED UPON It. +I It appeared that the worst fears of the authorities were about to be realized -- that rank and file veterans would make common -. cause with labour radicals. An - anonymous letter sent from British Columbia to Ottawa claimed that the loyalty of only twenty soldiers in ,Vancouver and twenty-five in Victoria could 4 be depended upon. % In Vancouver, where preparations were being made for a General Strike on June lst, in sympathy wLth the Winnipeg strikers, there was an heightened aware6ss of the importance of returned mTt,increased concern for their welfare. ,,fh=th &'nay saw a &,ry of activity. The city's .v I -/' -/' veterans' organizations mad; a joint ,&all for social reforms. A committee of soldiers' groups put $orward a broad programme, / which included a minimum wa living, public ownership of utilities, abolition of patronage, state health insurance, and tax reforms. There was however, no 5 indication. of how iE intended to gain these objectives. Mayor Gale, who earlier in the year had been furious when veterans successfully blocked his patronage appointment as utilities commissioner, changed his attitude. On May 23rd, fie * - *. and council voted to give a $10,000 grant to the city's .* , / veterans' groups. It was seen as an investment in social J peace. ,Alderman ~lkins,a GWVA member, assured council that t'he money would serve to keep veteians satisfied and happy to support _law and order and it was therefore the most economic 6 expendi ture council could make. The Mayor also helped to promote the Repatriation and -r Community Service League. This short-lived- group, patterned ,on a Toronto organization, aimed to " . ..discharge our full duty to -, veterans and their dependents. ..to e.volve a working basis of co-operative action in all matters of a direct interest to the community as a whole". The mayor was chairman of the first mass meeting of this new organization, which took place on the eve of the General Strike. The meeting was also attended by Secretary Neil1 of the Employers1 Association, J.J. Coughlan, shipbuilder; and two "moderaten representatives of labour, George Hardy of the Carpenters1 Union and Helena Gutteridge, secretary of the VTLC. The particular time at which this organization appeared, its supporters, its stated aims and its rapid disappearance after the crisis, indicate that, like council's grants, it was motivated by the idea' that veterans * were more likely to support law and order in a community that understood their needs. 7 - Many groups expressed their c0ncer.n for the veterans, but few put forward suggestions for practical help. The Vancouver Strike Committee recognized the needs o•’ex-' servicemen; it made improved soldierst pensions and a $2,000 cash gratuity for overseas service part of its strike demands. This infuriated the GWVA and A&N which declared that "The ma jorie of veterans . ,.can win justice for themselves and their dependents without subjecting the general public.-- -. to the hardships caused by a -- I P The Vancouver Bra an important new 0 member in May 1919. Ian Mackenzie, a Vancouver lawyer, was at the beginning of a distinguished political career. He was to become a Liberal MLA in 1920, a Liberal MP in 1930, and was to hold the portfolios of Immigration, Defence and Veterans' Affairs. Though the precise nature of his role in the'events of May and June is not clear, his political skills were much in . I evidence. He proposed, and won endorsement for, a resolution that seemed more conciliatory to labour than the organization's previous stance. Refraining from any ditect comment on the c OBU, it blamed the current labour unrest on "abnormal post-war psychological condi t ions" ,. "war profiteeringn, "unemployment and the failure of government to actn. While expressing sympathy with "constitutional actionsn fo remedy these ills, it condemned "insurrectionary and riotous attempts that may imperil the safety and security of our fellow citizens, or any attempt to subve$the institution of British lawn. Though this / - cleverly and cadef ulPy phrased statement was supported by most _ branch members, some were suspicious. Mac~kenzie, its originator, was a newcomer who was clearly not a member o€ the working class. Opponents of the statement claimed "it could be construed as an implication that labour was disloyal and didn't intend to be law abidingUi A week later it was decided that the - branch's actionpon the strike would be considered at a special meeti~gwhich would be called later. Meanwhile the South - > , Vancouver GWVA 'sensibly declared that, as men from all classes a were members of the association, the only safe thing to do was 9 to remain neutral. Vancouver's General Strike in sympathy with the Winnipeg - - workers bGgan on 3rd June 1919. Though the strike decision had been a close one, ten thousand workers walked off the job. There were indications that the GWVA- had learned a lesson from winnipe;. It made no attempt to hold a mass meeting and >o effort to recruit a "law and order" tontingent from its ranks. This is evidence of a major change; the GWVA and the AhN had encouraged the veteransf riot at the Labour Temple less than a year earlier -- in June 1919 they were unsure of their 10 - power. The "Lay and OrderU:contingent was supplied by the Returned Hen's Law and Order League, led 6y 1an M3ckenzie. Though Mackenzie's earlier role as a new member of- the GWVA prompts suspicions of a link between the two organizations, there is not sufficient evidence to confirm this. The group did not receive the public blessing of the GWVA, Neither the daily press nor pro-strike publications made reference to the fact that the leade-r of the- 'law and order groupm.was a GWVA member. hckenzie my have been sincerely 6pnvinced that the General Strike was a bolshevik plot. It is also possible that he was acting as an agent for military intelligence. However it is most likely that his behaviour was opportunistic. As an 5 8 upwardly mobile lawyer with political ambitions he hoped to ingratiate himself with anti-strike forces and the city's elite. 11 The founding of the new group was announced on- the fourth day of Vancouver's strike. Its thirty eight members represented the city's business and financial elite who could easily af ford to publicize the group's activities in large press advertisements and by the free distribution of the Returned Citizens' Bulletin. Though their ,leader issued hollow declarations of neutrality, there was never any doubt abbut the partisan nature of the group. Mackenzie met with '% Mayor ale and the city's ant i-strike Citizena' League, promising them the support of his group. On June 19th, he told veterans at an 0' Brien Hall meeting that the purpose of the Law and Order League was to fight against the "rampant red revolutionariesw who had gained cqntrol-of organized labour in 0 the city. He then informed them if their duty to act as special constables; magistrates Shaw and South were on hand to swear them in. They were to be held in reserve in case of emergency; the signal for their deployment would be given from an aircraft flying over the city. Only a third of the three hundred veterans present took advantage of this opportunity. Most were angry and there was a noisy demonstration during the 12 meeting . The di ssemination of anti-strike propaganda was an important function of the Returned Men's Law and Order League. Its Returned Citizens' Bulletin was to be responsible for the most provocative material published during .the strike, but in the first week it had to tread carefully. Mackenzie was able to go further than he had as a GWVA member, but he was careful not to alienate completely the large number of strikers who were veterans. The first adverkisemnts of the League claimed that the its sympathies yere with organized labour "but [that] organized labour is under dangerous leadershipn. It - . \ warned workers to "Beware of Bolshevism" , resurrected the spectre of the 1918 strike, and ended by exhorting returned men to "Stand fast by our national ideals, our constitution, the h 13 authority- df government and the solidarity of Empiren. The B.C. veterans 'weekly also proceeded with care. i Its June 10th editorial began by blaming war profiteers for the major part of the 'the current problems. This gesture being made', it could then get to its main theme: . . .men among us have been allowed to preach sedition and revolution. . .class is pitted against - ' class, man against man. None question the loyalty of 85 per cent of the men on strike. The record of a small ,percentage of the whole number is such that the whole movement is suspicion and will remain so while labour is controlled by its present leaders. 14 Even thcugh the right-wing element among veterans had more access to funds and the press than their opposition, they could not give even the appear'ance of speaking for the majority of 4. returned men until the strike was well under way. In the early days it seemed that the majority of veterans supported the strike. The Yancouver GWVA called off its regular meeting / - -1 whije the gatherings of the B.C. Ex-Soldiers' and Sail~rs' Labour Council were packed. The pro-labour group continually / I 96 stated its commitment to constitutional methods in the city, but RNWMP agents reported that it had posted handbills in coastal logging areas calling on workers to help create a *- soviet government. 15 On June 6th a meeting of the Ex-Soldiers' and Sai'lors' packed the Avenue Theatre, leaving two hundred men 0th on the 'street. ~nside,the veterans were addressed by strike leoders A.S. Wells, Jack Kavanagh, and Charles Lestor.. The meeting was opened by a veteran- of the Boer War. He claimed that the situation in 1919 -was no di.f ferent from that he had seen after tb earlier conflict, due to the fact that the system had not * : 3 changed -- the problem was production for profit instead of far ise. Wells urged the men to be orderly, warning them that-the " L , authorities were ready and waiting to fire on strikers. 16 Four days later another of their meetings drew nine - hundred men to the National Theatre to hear veteran Tom O'Connor defend the labour movement against charges that the strike was due to the work of a minority of agitators: The people of today blamed the agitators for the-present social unrest, but they could neither bring it on nor yet avert it; it was a result of the condition under which we lived and would come whether we liked it ur not...The leaders of the ' movements were just men who had conside~edthe conditions more closely than others; they had made an effort to instruct and educate their fellow workers and instead .of bringing on disaster, the leaders or agitators were rather instrumental in averting it. 9'Connor was cautious when a veteran asked about the purpose 3f the machine guns at Beatty Street, replying that the * / questioner should dray his own conclusions. The meeting's 61 1- 7 1 chairman, Major Mercier, warned the audience to refrain from t questions that might cause trouble at a time when feeling in the city was tense. He described Comrade OIConnor as the kind of machine gunner they believed in -- with good propaganda his 17 ammunition. The second leaflet of the Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors', *Returned Men and the.Labour Situation", appeared during the / early days of the strike. It stressed the educational function of the organization, and emphasized the unity of interests of ex-servicemen,. and workers -- a bond stronger than the w comradeship of ve tarans: . . 1 . . .it makes no difference whether you earn your living with a pic& and shoyel or a pen. The distinctions be twdeen the different trades which existed prior to the war are being rapidly swept away under the stress of the enormous economic pressure which is developing. Perhaps you have not actually % got back into harness. . .The gratuity cannot, however; last for long. Very soon you will be compelled to look for work. And your attitude in the present crisis will do much to determine whether there will I be any work for you and what the hours and pay will be. It will help to decide whether you will have to make the best of a bad bargain as a lone individual or whether the representatives, of a powerful working class will be able to demand for you the wages and conditions of labour which you have a right to expect -- but which will never be given to you voluntarily. 18 While Ex-Sa ilors' and Soldiers1 meetings were packed and Ian Hackenzie's organization was trying to recruit special constables, the GWA leadership gat&red"its forces. The/ pudlic inactivity of the Vancouver Branch masked a great deal 3f behind-the-scenes activity. The association was also busy at a national level. The surprise a•’ the May 15th meeting in Winnipeg had been followed by the Calgary GWVA's support of that city's strikers. It was evident that a position which * ignored strikerst grievances would be rejected by GWVA members. In its June 11th statement the National executive weighed its . . words carefully : This association is fully in sympathy with thait 1 \ portion of organized labour whic.h is striving to hl ,/ - better the conditions of the working men through >-/' lawful and constitutional means and is in no sympathy whatsoever with factions controlled by extremists who strive by all means to overthrow British institutions and incessantly breeds discord and advocates riot or revolutions and that we are unalterably opposed to capitalistic combines that seek by economic or financial pressure, to contrbZ to an unwarranted degree, the governing bodies of this fair Dominion to the detriment of the majority of people of Canada. Desmond Morton sees this statement as being the result of 'many painful cornpromi ses" -- perhaps the ma in compromise was between what the executive would liked to have said and what it knew the membership would support. The Winnipeg executive's intent before the May meeting and the;conduct of the Vancouver executive indicate that the association's leaders saw their role as the guidance rather than the representation of their 19 members. The official statement was not automatically assured of . support. he meeting that gave it the Vancouver Branch's '. - backing was carefully planned and orchestrated. Meetings had been postponed since the strike began. Meanwhile the association had been busy signing up ex-officers and N.C.O.'s - as nembers; no doubt in the hope of strengthening the -: 2 3 anti-radical forces. The strikers were still on the offensive when the GWA Vancouver Branch held its June 12th meeting. Nothing was left tc chance. The agenda appears to have surprised labour supporters, Members had been promised a "spec'ialn meeting to /-----.--*discussf the strike, but the meeting was not advertised as such \ \ being held in the GWA audi toriurn, the regular meeting place. $resident Whittaker answered protests by ruling*that, though w the meting 'was not "special", it cevertheless had authority to discuss the strike. It was certainly not 'regularn. Special 1 ', provision had been made for reporters. Four victoria Cross holders, Comrades Bellew , Rayf ield and ~anawere introduced to the audience, Then another V. C. Holder, Michael James 0' Rourke, 1. was mdiscoverednat the back of t'he hall. This hero was carried shoulder high to the platform where he and three other medal holders were made liie members of th; Vancouver 2 1 Branch, All attempts that the minority who supported .the strike . . made to debate the issues were swamped by appeals to crude patriotic'and anti-labour sentiments. For example: ' While we were overseas giving our life's blood< the slacker element was busy with its insidious, de3ilish work...Which Flag are you going going to to fight for, the red flag or the Union Jack? ' And later in the meeting: I -am a Brikisher, I believe in God. 1 will not serve under a man who says he is out in - competition with "Mr Christw. The leadership was well prepared for certain issues. When Comrade OIConnor maintained t-hat beterans in Winnipeg had * endorsed the strike, Vice President R.P. Foster-read a telegram informing the meeting that the Winnipeg GWVA now opposed the strike. ", The Vancouver branch went further than mere endo~sern~nt.of the Dominion executive's statement. F.W. Russell Rigby and R. ~rowe-Swordes, two SCR bureaucrats, put forward a resolution condemning Vancouver' s labour leaders: That while this association is heartily in accord with the aims of legitimate labour as represented by the International unions" and the American Federation of Labor, we are not in , a- sympathy with the manner in which the Vancouver Trades and Labor Council organized the sympathetica* ' strike in the city.. . .using methods of intimidation &%I force men not ih sympathy with the strike to leave their employment. TbLmotion went on to charge that the strike was inflicting - . hardship cn citizens. The strikers' demand for a cash bonus , ? was described as 'merely a clumsy piece of political chicaneryn. Despite the hostility surrounding them, forty- three veterans, including Comrades 0' Connor, Campbell, 4 DeWeile, Beattie, Daly and Leah, went on record agqinst the resolution. Comrade Campbell told the meeting of 800 that there were three times that number of returned men in the ranks of . the strikers. But such sentiments were overwhelmed by the vocal majority -- when the vote passed, they stood to attention and "lustily* sang God Save The King. + One question arose immediately: was the meeting a reliable indicator of the view of the majority of veterans in the city? The much headlined GWVA meeting of 800 was attended by fewer veterans than the meeting of the Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Council a few days earlier. President Whittaker claimed that-he Vancouver Branch represented over four thousand men, a considerable exaggeration. It is also-.likely p. that the f*Pkpthree members who had the courage to state their 57 di,sagreement did not represent the full extent of the \ I opppsition, but merely the portion of the meeting that refused byllbe intimidated by its surroundings. Many members were upset by the proceedings --- they threw away their GWVA membership 4' cards in disgust, The Vancouver Branch was not even able to exert i,tscontrol throughout the ~owerMainland. The New Westminster Branch supported the aims of that city's strike. GWVA President Tom Barnard was a member of the New Westminster strike Compi ttee; his activites were endorsed by . the branch! s members. In these circumstances the -sentiments of the GWVA's '~ancouvermeeting cdnnot be considered . I rep&sentative of the majority ,of the city's veterans, but rather as an expreqsion of the feelings of a large right-wing The strikers reacted quickly to the ~anc0uve.rGWVA1s st&emeit. At their mass meeting that took place two days lat-er they referrs-to President Whittaker as a 'bow legged sky t pilotn and maintained that the GWYA meeting did not represent the views of the majority of the city's veterans.~ Representatives oLtwo pro-strike veterans1 groups spoke to the crowd. EX-~riva'teSimposon of the Comrades of the Great War called on veterahs to stand and indicate 'their support. Several hundred men did so. R.B. Young mf the Campaigners was careful to differentiate between GWVA official policy, which he C-A.', 0 . I u $.r a a, m a a, 4- QY L 0 m a C) L 4.1 L, 3 a a, a, QY . w 3 -4 m a, a, a, "243L a,a ua a4 003 -6" -; a 3au u u o c m a, 'u am -4 4 m e* am Ltria,JJ%C aca, ~acrn~a 4 -dC40 u a) aahw w.or'4-l a, a -4 a, = E. 2 axua mac (r: c -74 E a E k du a,Oa,,rLaka -4 flu a, a OCJJ L .r( a -4 ~)=~mocm-~a,a,~) a r: a c a L-4 Ll 0 am 'u&E 3 a 2 2830 uua-4 .4 0 C m r, a-4 3 a, L, cau mux a, a, C Qaa, 3r(U)Q)a,m Q) 2 '2 Oi 1La3 ac3. ~a,a~aa -4 r: m boa, 43aan LaamQ, u 4 Q).LC(m aa,$ga,E E ma, ..mu -4 to %.( c U u Ca,O >C(C -4 0 0 F a, a, u-+a'c C u c U a r( 0 a, LCCU HXE~L:-~O-4=IrlC 3 -4 L 4J3-4H E.LILQ)~~F-433a mrld)QYQ)* (TICL~ u JJ 3 u 4 3 ma m u L h -4 3 ma,& 00, %~mmororla, c A u m za~~a, C a, good3 JJ -4 4 C uaoQ, -4.4 .%a m rl tn ~ima~tca rim aacacm U) u L 3 ri%2'3 h -4 -,-I k "3 a a, %6a,u aocun u a, . Q) C 4-J 0 k-4 a,tn-++a a,Q,r:a,a Q, X I3N.-C-~UY 0 m E Yu 2 2 : 2ua=: x k.4 mua, -~~EKJa us c3ca ,a' C 0 kukC-dW rl a, h aoa, rdaaw mu-4a rn .. C c LIhEa, a,-"COmCU)krlQ, u u rl . But the 'strike was already drawing to a close. As the men of \ the 72nd disembarked the strike cohittee was inquiring upon. t what terfns city council would accept/ returning civic employees~.~ i When Council rFused to reinstate them, ;the strike settlement <,, {./ ning of July. 25 was delayed until the beg, Despite &he rheto~icof the Returned Men's Law and Order - I / /' League, theuancouvwk General strike had been anything but a - - / revolution. Veterans had been reluctant to become special constables in the service of the state. But at the same time, J unlike Rinnipeg, there were no mass 'demonstrations or 1 confronfations between veterans. It is not possible to say which side had the support of the majority of vetera-, Contemporary observers di sagreed. On July 2nd, the L Vancouver Citizen, a publication of the anti-strike Citizens' League, commented on statements by 'agi tatorsn that the bulk of soldiers had supported the strike. It maintained that the final test of the soldiers' loyalty would be the GWVA Dominion Convention which was about to be held in t,he city? In the summer of 1919 the authorities"and many veterans saw the strike, not as the major battle, but as a preliminary skirmish 2 6 on the way to a larger showQown, c- - A comment on veterans ended the final strike report of the Department of Militia and Defence. Employers in British Columbia, the document argued, would have to be shown the a ' necessity of emplbying as many veterans .as possible. During ' the strike. the Citizens' League had recommended that returned men be given preference in rehiring after the strike as "those loyal men who have fought against the principles of autocracy in France and Belgium are deserving of more consideration than the men who openly passed tesolutions of sympathy with the Bolsheviki and Spartacansn, But employers 6.. /- were motivated less by patriotism than by the ~~~ortunit~~for union busting. C.P,R. ?manager F.W. Peters, director of the Re turned Soldiersr Club, had already 'replaced women, aliens and orientals with veterans. In June 1919 he recruited 188 et-servicemen to fill the places of striking freight handlers and longshoremc2n. In the summer of 1919 twenty per cent of the employees of the Northern Construct ion Company, working on the - \ P.G.E., were ex-servicemen. They were paid 75 cents per hour . . for a nine hour day, whereas union rates were 81 cents per hour for an eight hour day. 27 Though these *!procedures served the purposes of employers, , they did little to resolve the basic problem of'unemployment; there were simply not enough jobs to go round. Large numbers of veterans were running but of post-discharge pay and the city was faced with its regular seasonal influx of unemployed workers from the hinterland. As early as July 1919 the RNWMP - were anxious about this. However, if government at both levels made an effort to supply veterans with work, the Commissione'r felt that the radical labour element would be easy to handle: ...the coming winter will be a critical time, and as, I have remarked it is up to the governmentc supported by the provinces to keep these rtlen satisfied and happy and therefore away from the influence of Bolshevism. Time and time again I have brought this to the notice of prominent' businessmen in Vancouver.. . 28 Throughout the following months the RNWm continued their '-F .. - emphasis on veterans as the most critical group, whose loyalty could be best assured by the provision of work, or an extended pe,riod of post-di scharge pay. Veteransv associations also' had to address themselves to the problem of unemployment, and to the grdwing demands for a cash gratuity. Two groups had disappeared from the Vancouver '7 scene by the fall of 1919. No references to the Khaki Labor Union occur after the strike. The Ex-Soldiers' and Sailorst Labor Council was another casualty. One of their last' actions was a protest against the police raids on the headquarters of . labour publications and the homes of strike activists. By July 1 - *-, their meetings had fallen off drastically. About a hundred I men, only half of whom were ex-servicemen, gathered to hear , Alex Mackenzie of the Loggersf Association on July 13th. At a business meeting on the twenty-first of the month it was clear 1 that the association was in a state of collapse. Its organizer, W.E. Kinney announced his retir,ement -- he could no longer afford to work without pay, and was leaving for Winnipeg. 1n I August a police spy reported that the organizaticn had ceased I to exist. This was not altogether accurate, .as further meetings were annouunced in the B.C. Federationist. It is nevertheless evident that t@ Ex-Soldiersv and SailorsE Council 29 .had ceased to attract veterans. The National Convention of the GWVA that was postponed during the strike went ahead in early; July, aided-by a $2,500 grant from the Vancouver &ity Council, Iand a $5,000 contribution from the Provincial ~overnment. The gathering was preceded by a provincial convention where there was criticism of the bias. of the B.C. Veterans Weekly. A Victoria member suggested that 'the publication should include a correspondence page for veterans who were also labour men. "b The New Westminster Branch put forward a resolut-ion, which they o wanted to place before the National Convention, demanding that govern&nt take whatever action was necessary to ensure th'at all law abiding citizens had work, health insurance and old age 30 pens ions. The National Convention showed just how badly the organization was split. Payment of a cash gratuity was the most divisive issue. A large proportion of delegates, representing perhaps a larger proportion of working class members, was strongly in favour of government,paying a $1,500- cash gratuity to all men who had served overseas, and $2,000 to those who had actually been to the front. After a great deal of manoeuvering by the leadership, the convention' finally a P . . watered down and essentially meaningless resolution, which . demanded a gratuity but left the amount to be determined only by the countryts-ability to pay. 3 I f 'ic The issue of gratuities was not the only one that' split r- the organization. It was, rather, a r~flectionof the deep c /' divisions between the members and the executive which had been -,/ apparent earlier in Vancouver and Winnipeg. The same division a . was evident f.n the discussion of war prof its. An amendment \ r 71 - that would have given substance to the organization's stated I condemnation of war profiteers, was-put forward by a Toronto veteran. He made the remarkable proposal that the government confiscate all prof its made during the war, and then hand back only an amount based on the average profits ofhhe th>ee years 1 preceding the war. The remainder was to be distributed to the L* widows and orphans of vernans. Comrade Barnard of New keestminster spoke in support of the amendment; maintaining that there could be no industrial peace in Canada while extremes of u. wealth and poverty were allowed to exAst: 'Remove the soil in 'which Bolshevism is readily proPogatedl and you will soon eradicate the ~olshevist". The amendment was also supported by * - -F Comrade DeWeile of the Vancouver Branch. But the leaders of th6 association suppressed it by scheduling its discussion on the afternoon the last day of the convention, when there was . only a shokt for debate. The final endorsement was "in prfnciplen only. Ig was then forwarded to an executive rr committee 'to draft, with utmost care as to the phraseology". 32 _ The manipulation of the convention did not go unnoticed in the daily press. Ah article in the Vancouver Weekly Review, ,signed by a "war chaplainn whb advocated socialization of all industries, sharply criticJzed the 'i proceedings: \ # . ..it is evident that their [the GMA'SI programme of reform has been made to order. , It is not a natural growth of a body of reforming students ,but the made to order programme of cbody of hired servants. The hand of the master is evident in every line. 72 -, . Needless to say, these allegations were strenuously denied in the columns of the B.C. Veterans Weekly. 3 3 Other Vancouver Jeterans' grqps had their own remedies for social ills. The A&N and -the Imperial Veterans saw the high cost-ofc living as a meor irritant. They called for action I under the criminal code whenever profiteering was found, a suggestion aimed- at the prices of basic commodities rather thanhhe' prof its which had been amassed during the war. 3 4 As the problem of unemployment among veterans became more [apparent, 'an' increasing number felt only a cash gratuitY would .- I .- make it possible for them to survive the winter. In October, , Sam Gothard of. the Comrades went to Ottawa to present a petition signed by eighteen thousand veterans., It requested a .$2,500 gratuity, to be paid in bonds, the recipients being free to dispose of them at will. Tom Barnard, running as a labour candidate against Conservative Simon Fraser Tolmie in a Vancouver Island federal by-election, claimed that the government- .was ableito afford a cash gratuity. The GWVA . Q Advisory Committee to Cabinet modified the association's , earliir decision; it asked for a $500 cash grant "to make' provision, for the anticipated stress,of the cutrent ' <-% . 4 . winter". 35 Prime Minister Borden, tried hard to' ignore the agitation. On the 5th of -~ovbrnberhe stated categorically that there would be no gratuity. H.B. Stevens, Conservative membe-r for Vancouver Centre, was-in- the city a week later. He told GWVA members that advancing money on gratuities was not in the , interests of the public, and that he wpuld rather that pensions - A be equa~izedamong a11 ranks. The speech hadoa considerable E. '- ,i'rnpact on the RtWFJ Commissioner, who reported that Stevens had . , risen fifty per cent i the estimation of returned men. ~tebens y$ 5 himself had no-illus s. He w2ote telling Borden that the /. speech had not .gone down well with veterans: " I assure you that there is no doubt at all about the unanimity and the d determination of the men to get this grant 'by ,hook or by crook'., If the ~r,rontiiiiie in their present state 1 should, at the next ele~tion,probably be defeatGdM. Stevens reminded the Prime Minister that the government had made no provision for-veterans who did not wish to live on the land. He suggested that those who wanted to start in business or buy a -. house should also receive assistance. 3 6 *, There were at least five thousand unemployed in Vancouve~ when Borden finally responded- to the growing unemployme~among veterans. The December 1$19 order-in-Council made it clear that the forty million dollar grant for- the relief of returned men was no't an admission of reponsibility for the able-bodied. Help was given "without admitting that the Federal government is .in any way responsible for the employment of former juekbers of the forces who have returned to civilian life". An pnemployed . ir veteran quaJified only if he was indigent: "Officers of the Department [SCR] shall investigate the home conditions of the applicant for assistance and shall take into- consideration , income frm the earnings of members of the family*. 37 Veterans were furious about this and called itYthe 74 9- Dcharity dolew. In order to, receive aid an.applicant had to go through a prolonged procedure. First, he needed a note from - ", the SCR verifying that he was unemployed, and -that no .job-was . > available. Then he had to complete a form which asked for . ,. - ,..... details of property or and other investments he owned; if h'e - c was receivimng a pension: who was his last employer; nature of his employment; duration of last employment; amount of salary and reasons for leaving. A-- lady visitor would then check on 1 himr This "insulting and self-respect destroyingn procedure was exacerbated by the requiremeent iin some areas for P applications to &e made through the Canadian. Patriot kc fe - 38 Fund. A -1 , C *. .. ' Less than one year after they had been demobilized mar-& of' fi -1 -Canada's "heroes." had becorrte objects of charity? subject to the b same- humil iating. procedu,res their wives and families had ' , * r . endured while the war was in progress. The situation worried -. the officer in charge of the RNWMP. He reported that without * use•’ui work the men had "nothing %do but meet and discuss their grievancesw. These circumstances were being exploited b,y - A + 'i "agitators" who were busy "sowing the seed& of dissension on 39 4 phst might be termed very fertile groundM. 0 Veterans were understandably reluctant to go through. the * unpleasant procedure of applying" for the Federal re_l$dgrant. At the Beginning of January 1920 only 950 had received assistance in Britf sh Columbia. Despite the 'fact that the --% GWVA, which claimed a membership of 10,000, was the province's - * largest vetexanst group, it reported only 176-@s'f tite cases that l = .,' received Federal assistance. This was less than the 185 reported-by the Imperial Veterans and consiberably less 2 than the 252 reported by the Vancouver office of the SCR. Either the GWV$S membership consisted of the more affluent J veterans, gr the organization was failing to care for i-ts 40 J di sadvantaged members. - a , The ,winter of 1919-20 was a bad one for many veterans, h *1 ' .- , - but it was free 'from social disorders. h he returned soldiers, had still to experience the worst effects 'of the post-war readjustment -- it was still possible to hang on to the dream of "a home Tt for heroesn. Notes 1. ' PAC, RG 18, Vol. 1933, Pile G 579-1, RNWMP Secret and Confidential Monthly Report. 2. Allen ,Seager, 'Nineteen Nineteen: Year of RevoltW ~ournaiof the West, Vol XXIII, 4 (1984) p. 45; Phiil$, pp. 77-81*, Bercuson, Fools and Wise Men, pp. 87-104. . . L 3. K. McNaught and D.J.' Bercuson, The Winnipeq General Strike: 1919- (Don Millsj-1974) pp.. 40-50. 4. Agent's Report in PAC, RG 24, Vol. 3985, ~ileNSC . 1055-2-21, "Winnipeg Mass Meeting of Soldiersm, 15 Hay 1910; - anonymo'us letter cited in PAC, -RG24, Vol. 2571, File HQC 28l7(3), Jukes to Davis, 23 May -1919. 0 - 5. Province, 16.May 1919, p. 14, - 6. Province, 28 May 1919, p. 10- 7. Vancouver Sun, 28 May 1919, p. 2; Province, ,3 June 1919, pi. 4. - 8. Description of, and quotations from, GWVA meeting in the Province, 31 May 1919, p. 20; South Vancouver declaration from B.C.~eterans Weekly, 5 June 1919, p. 1. 9. Province, 23 May 1919, p. 7; B.C.Veterans Weekly, 29 May 1919, p. 6. 10. B.C.Veterans Weekly, 8 August 1918, p. 8; Daily . -World, 3 August 1918, p. 10. 11. For Captain Ian Mackenzie see Margaret A. Ormsby, British Columbia: A History (Toronto, 1958) pp., 424, 428, 465; The presence of intelligence agents within the dVancouveur GW7A can be inferred from military intelligence documents in, the PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2571, File HQC 2817(2'), A list of contents' of the file jnctudes agent's -repo,rts (numbered 61-63 and 91) entitled "Vancouver- GWVA Secret Monthly Meetingm. The Reports themselves have been removed. 12. The thirty-eight 'founders 05 the Returned Citizens' Law apd Order League were mostly barristers, brokers and businessmen. They included Henry Bell Irying of Anglo British Packers; H. St. 3. Montizambert of Dominion Petroleum; R:H. Tdpper of Tupper and Bell, Solicitors; and 1an ~ackenzie. List published in the Vancouver Sun, 10 June June 1419, p. 9; Citizensl Law and Order League estimated ~~-PAc, 2571, File HQC' 2817(3), Sgt. autler to Col. FOE. 1919. 5 13. Re turned Citizens' Law and Order League, advertisement, Province, 11 June 1919, p. 5. i C- i 14. B.C.Veterans Weekly, 12 June 1919, p. 8. - t' \ 15. PAC, PG 27, Department of Labour, Vol. 314, ~ile190(c) / memorandum on General Strike, RNWMP Agents 33 and 37, 4 June / 1919; Daily World, 4th June, 1919, p. 11. i 16. PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2571, File HQC 2817(3), Agent 27, Report - on Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Labor Council Meeting, 5 June ' 1919. \ 17. -Ibid, Agent 27, Report on Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' ,r Labor Council Meeting, 9 June 1919. -----A 18. PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2576, HQC 2042, "Returned Men and the Labour Question", -Ex-Soldiers' and Sailors' Labor Council. 19. Morton, Canada. and War, p. 88. . 20. B.C. Federati~~nist,13 June 1919, p.6. / id < 21. Information and quotations in this and the following two Ps,ragraphs *om the' Province, 13th. June 1919, p. 7. 22. hvectisement, 'Re turned Citizens' Bulletin", ~ro~ince 14 JuneYQ19, p. 20; British Columbian, 16 June 1919, p. 1; PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2576, File HQC 3042, Report on Vancouver Strike, 30th June, 1919, Jukes to Davis. 23. Province, 16 June 1919, p. 10. 24. Daily World, 14 June 1919, p. 10. 25. UBC Special Collections, copies of Returned Citizens' Bulletin, 21 June 1919, Strike .Bulletin, 20 June 1919; Elaine Bernard, The Lonq Distance Feeling: A History of the TelecommunicaXions Workers' Union (Vancouver, 1982) p. 60. 26, UBC, Special Collections, copy of Vancouver Citizen, 2 July 1919, p. 1. - 27. PAC, RG 24, Vof. 2576, Fife HQC 3042(2), Report on General Strike, 23 June, 1919, No. 7; PAC, RG 18, Vol. 1933, ~ileG Sf 9-1, RWW Secret and Conf identiai Monthly Report, Vancouver, October 1919. P 28. PAC, RG 18;. vole 1933, File G 579-1, RNWW, Secret and Confidential Monthly Report, Vancouver, July 1919. 29. PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2571, File HQC 2817(3) Agent 27, Confidential Report, 14 July 1919; PAC, RG 24, Vol. 2576, File HQC'2042, Agent 27, Confidential Report, 21 July 1919. 30. B.C,Veterans weekly, 3 3 ly, 1919, p. 3. 31. Eayrs, Vol. I, pp. 49-52. 32. Province, 5 July 1919, p. 16. 33. Opinions of 'War hadl la in" cited in the B.C.Veterans Weekly, 17 July 1919, p, 1. 34. PAC, Borden Papers, MG 26 H1 (c), pp. 61036-7, President df Vancouver Branch, Imperial Veterans of Canada to Prime Minister Borden, 26 September 1919. P 35. PAC,. RG 18, Vol. 1933, File G-579-1, RNWMP, Secret and Confidential Monthly Report, Vancouver, November 1919 ; -B.C. Veterans Weekly, 9 October 1919, pp. 5 and* 10. 36. statement on gratuity reported in Vancouver Sun, 13 November 1919, pp. 1-2. RNWMP Commi ssioner' s impressions in PAC, Borden papers, MG 26 HI (a), Vol 112, pp. 61036-7; Steven's own-assessment in PAC, Borden Papers, MG 26 H1 (c) Vol 24, p.' 2457, memorandum, Stevens to Borden, undated, 37. Cited in Canada, ~essionil-Papers,, 192'1, No. 14, Department of Soldier's Civilian Re-Establishment, Report, p. 162. 38. B.C.Veterans Weekly, 1 January 1920, p. 3. 39. PAC, RG 18, vol. 1933, File G 579-1, RNW*, Secret and Confidential Monthly Report, ~ancbuver,December 1919. 40 British Columbia, Sessional Papers, 1920, Vol. 2, BCRSAC RepqEf, M-38. -. CHAPTER 4. The veterans...are, or soon wi-11 be...powerful enough 'to secure the election of any candidate for parliamentary honours. .. Whenever an election takes place, assuredly soldier candidates will be nominated ., in practically every constituency, 'irrespective of L whether there is a distinctive soldiers' party or 4 not. It is safe to presume that the full weight of . the returned men will be behind the soldierst- candidates. More th n this, no political party could accomplish. 7 "Soldiers and Politics" by t Lukin Johnston, in B.C. It was not until December 1920, more ,than two ~ears'after the armistice, that vete-rans had a chance .to take part in a major election. 1n 1916 provincial Liberals had ended a fourteen year Conservatdve reign in a "political avalanche" that left the Tories with- ohly nine seats in the legislature. This electoral suc~esshad been due to the Liberalst . ,C Q ' contsruction of a uniLed front including prohibitionists, I labour, feminists and other reform groups. The administrations - of Premier Breuster and iater Premier Oliver were typical of early twentieth centbry Canadian- Liberalism, as described by ' ti Jams Laxer: "catering to powe'rf ul econo&c interests while not -&cd 1 0 - forgetting the ordinary people". There wa$ a spdte of reform . * ' legislation affecting "ordinary people' between 1916 and 1920. The lot'of some workers was made a little easier by the # Workmen's Compensation Act, the extension of the eight ho~ day, and fortnightly payment of wages to workers in major industries. Legislation for women included the Women's Suffrage bill, a female minimum wage bill and the. Mother's Pension Act. a In addition to the Soldiers' housing e)nd settlement acts, , n . . arrangements were made to defer soldiers' property taxes for the duration of the ,war. Though this Liberal record contrasted well with that of the previous Conservative administration, it "2 - - left a .great deal to be desired. The problems described by Tom Barnard in 1919 remained untouched. "War profiteersn continued - to flourish and basic social injustices remained. The worker . i .. still lived in fear ok unemployment, sickness, old age, and his 2 dependents1 lack of security. Workers' anxieties grew as the post-war depression set in.- ' . - ., War contracts had come't-o' an end, and there was a sharp drop in - world prices of the Law materials that British Columbia's ' export trade relied on. Premier Oliver, who was well aware of the growing discontent, sought"to gain a mandate before the farmers: workers, and veterans who formed the mdjor dissident groups cquld make politically effdtive alliances. The move also allowed him to' take -advantage of the disarray of his traditional opponents, the Conservatives, who had repeatedly ? criticized him for failing to enforce prohibition. In October 1920 a referendum showed that the public did not favour 3 . prohibition. ~dou~hmany e-x-se'rvicemen were unhappy with the I - performance of the provficial Liberals, veterans ' organizations 9 3 C4 could not agree on whether or not to enter the provincial I L elect ion as an organized political groue. The Great War Yeterans ~ssocia"tionwas -offici a1ly non-part isan, opposing the 0 formation of a soldiers' party or support for a particular party. The terms of its incorporation as a benevolent - A association prevented it in fact from taking part in any political act'ion. This had conveniently allowed it to block a. . attempts to form an alliance between Victoria veterans' groups- and labour in December 19.18, A policy of political neutrality C - was also expedient; veterans1 groups relied heavily on - government grants. But official non-part Fsanship was attacked from both inside and outside the organization. The '. , Vancouver Branch di scussed possible amendments to its ~02inion Charter which would allow the association to enter politics in April 1919. The 'idea of a soldiers' party was also , a % -, discussed in the 1919 S~uveniredition of the B.C. Veterans x . -, Weekly. While admitting that the posible formatidn of a soldiers' party was an important issue, it portrayed- such a move as below the dignity of the returned man: ~anadiansoldiers and ,the soldiers of the Empire generally, have passed through a tremendous experience.. .Be tween them and duty there has been formed a permanent alliance. For s'uch men the mere bibboleths of political part isanship have 80 1:meaning. 4 - These sdntiments were echoed by President Whittaker of the- Vancouver Branch in May 1919: We were civilians before the war and now that we have returned. ..we are civilians agacin in a much grander sense. .. .[our I interests are not distinct from the interests of men and women who through then hard'and trying years of war. .,stood faithfully by, 5 J Given the bias of the Vancouver executive and the context of ' early 1919, these.sentiments are predictable. ' Non-partisanship - ruled out the soldier-labour alliance that they and the 6 0 authorities feared. Though official GWA policy was used to r9tionalize its refusal to take part in alliances with labour,, it had not J stopped branches and their members from, taking a political - stance when it suited them. In 1918 the Vancouver branch supported Walter Drinnan who ran for the Conservatives against I Mary Ellen Sm%th,, a. 'liberal, in a provincial by-election. B B Drinnan's defeat apparently changed his mind about the advisability of veteransc political action. In April '1919 he declared that it "would allow the association to become the 4 prey of politicians.. .[and]. . .nothing more than a stepping stone for some ambitious rnembet" .. While Drinnan had lost, the Victoria GWVA helped elect Ex-Private Frank Giolma, who ran as an independent soidier against a soldier Liberal in another provincial by-election. . As demobilization took place, the GWVA k attracted activists from all political parties, including Liberal Ian Mackenzie and Tom ~arnardof the Federated Labor 7 '% Party. Though the GWA wa% able to overcome all pleas for t,he 2 d formition of a soldiersq party in early 1919, the drive for gratuities brought the issue to the forefront later that year: t After the 1919 conventipn3s unpopulai refusal of gratuity demands, the GWVA's parliamentary lobby put forward a modified. bonus plan, which sought aid only the soldier "who could ' - demonstr'ate that state assistance in re-establl shment is a real necessity for the welfare and further security of himself and his dependentsm. ' When even this modest proposal was rejected the association was faced with the possibility ~f losing members to rival groups. Branches openly expressed their discontent; the South Vancouver GWVA passed a unanimous- 1 resolution 'in favour of the GWVA taking an active interest in politics, belie.ving that action. .:is in the best interests i of Canada at this time,' andi that all other returned men's I organizations be invited toL associate themselves with the GWVA to this endn. Even the B.C. veterans Weekly had doubts .. about its previous stance. .While contending that the organization 'should maintain itself free and unfettered from all political -actionn',' it admitted that: 'whether the association a1te.r~its constitution or no, it cannot prevent E its me&ers from entering- the fightm. In .response to these pressures, Comrade C.E. Doherty of the association's provincial ' executive was sent to Ottawa to try to g6t the association.'^ sarter amended 'to permit phiitical action in the fight for re-establ$shmentm. The attempt was uns.uccessfu1. In October 1920 the organization faced a provincial election with its , - ,constitution unchanged. 8 The Grand Army of United Veterans, the veterans' group % which 'formed ,a soldiers' party in the 1920 provincial election, . .., - Z was specifically committed to political action. First formed, v.a ,t as the United Veterans' League,, the organization had -begun=as a - breakaway group of the GWVA, after the 1919 convention.' , . Under the leadership of Ex-Sergeant Harry Flynn in Toronto, t5 , the League demanded a $2,000 gratuity for soldiers who had beB ,n to the front, and lesser amounts for other veterans. The United Veterans began its Vahcouver oeganikation in November \ I. . . ' 1919 led by President Jimmy Robinson (formerly of the G'WA) , \ \ - with Comrade Carrol (formerly of the Comrades) as secretary. i \ The RNWMP feared that- they might draw support not. only 'from the a Comrades and the Campaigners, but also from the radical section of the union movement. A large number -of Imperial Veterans whq 8. \ had been strongly patriotic before 1919 were also expected to join; post-war hardships had led some of the rmperials'to " become "positively Bolshevik". 9 The United Veterans' League was not able to establish more than a temporary presence in the city-until the summhr-of 1920r when it had been renamed the Grand Army ofJ United Veterans, The I - Vancouver branch of the. GAUV announced its format ion in July * 1920 with J.L. Millar, manager of the Veterans' +~ngineeringand Contracting Co., as president, and R.A. Webb, an employee 'Jof/ - . Canada ~djustaPlkDouble beck, as secretary. The first 1. 6 executive is notable for the incl'usion of Nursing Sister Smith b 7 ' as second vice .prasident --' the normal practice of veterap' - / e C associations was to relegate women to the ladies' auxili&i&. In August 1920 the new group were able to announce that their Vancouver Club Rooms were ready for occupation. At the %same L time, GAUV branchessawere'being formed in New Westmins ter, South - fl Vancouvek, Yictoria and Burnaby. his dismayed theeGWVA, who pleaded with their members not to defect. That great supmrter of the established order, the dalP y pyess, practiced censorship by exclusi6n; every meeting of the GWVA was reported in detail 10 whili the GAUV,- its riyal, was largely ignored. At its Provincial convention, the GAUV resolved to contact 1 I- labour. Secretary Webb, who had tieen appointed as organizer, was given the task of writing to the province's labour councils 9 . syggest ing a joint farmer/labour/GAUV conference. He also =. - carried a plea for pali ticab action to the United Soldiers' > Council of Vancouver. His suggestion was rebuffed by the joint efforts of Ian hackenzi4 of - the GWVA, and Majorq Crehan and Roberts, of the Army and Navy Veterans and the Imperial *-=--- C Veterans respect ivb~.The idea of co-ope rat ion be tween i labour, farmers and ;herani was not well received by the head ', ', of the United ~irmers,%.A. Copeland, who decla-red that $e was t opposed to any such develgpment. It diq, however, receive the support of outspoke-n labour MLA James Hurst Hawthornwaite. 16 - was in the Greater Victoria area, where soldier and labour groups had previously attempted to un-ite, that the most 1 serious, albeit intornplete and unsuccessful, attempt was made to elect soldier/labour candidates, In order to contest ,the 'i 'a- four mem'ber Victoria City riding, the .trade unions chose two t candidates, James Dakers and Tom Dooly, and the GAUV selected 7 two, C.K. Christian and R.P. HcLernan. All four men ran on a joint 'soldier/labour' ticket. This did not prevent the p i -. ~ederatdtabour:-Party from running two. candidates. Nor did it beter iQkurnbent Prank eiolma from contesting the election as an 1 independen,t soldier. In Saanich Captain M.A. Orford, a /' . 4 shipyard foreman, represented the -sol ier/labour alliance. This . . \. di srna~eionelabour'supp&rte.r who chargqd that Orf ord had ~dok \ -\- more to force scab labour on us than anyohe else?. Captain -. B.J.Gasden, who xan in .Esquimalt, was the fourth alliance candidate. 11 -. . . In Vancouver veterans and labour were unable Po form a 2- , t similar alliance. This was partly, but not entirely, due to' 'i the influence of the GWVA. The United Public Service Council, .x under the chairmanship of Dr J.W. McIntosh who was a vetera; a. and an independant MLA, included delagates •’;om bbth' labour ii~d ' veteransv groups. 'on 26th ochber, 1920, it recommended a jo3nt-: . , P"; .-2 ticket of two so,ldier and two labour candidates kn the six . ; % i? member Vancguver constituency. This 'was opposed b? the 'GWV~,, 4 4 &. ' whose provincial executive two days earlier had warnedb members 3 $. "on no account totallow the GWVA to become ? stepping stone tgc. B *. ? - 0 '. I' &" * .i.O . .the ambition of &rtain irrek~bksiblerpe~sdns'. On 28t.h - - I / , .J October the Vancouver ~;anch recoi&nded 'that 'its de'$ega ted . , - d *' ,< carry pn in the Council, but refuse to .parbieripate .in any w .w < 'k 4 electoral nominations. The Vancouver hade's':and .labour ~oun~i1 ' ' r "C <,, ' $ .< 4, \ * was lukewarm towards t?e pGo&x6d alliance. -1t2 dele& told-. . - L e ,- P, . rr3- . cPp- the, United Pli'blic S pice ,~auncilthat', port a joint 2, . t. . . % ticket, the VTLC vo id'have to take a ;iferandun of it& '' 1 a <' t '. a- 2 consitituent organizations, and that time did ngt'allow far ,' 12 this. L z,- , P \-E ;f , --c.--- 89 I saw xe without feeling.. .I --!Hypnotized1 came a voice s quick as a flash -- and the audience y&lled with $8 .+ deli3htP. This incident das 3nly one of many occasions in which the GAUV sonfr~ntedMeighen across Canada, episodes which led t~ 'the gr3up b2ing named "Flynn's Indians" , after their. I nstional leader. Yeighen's visit not on2 y resulted in a great deal •’ exp~s,ure, fevourable and unfavour~e,- for the GAUV, it 3153 cjem3nstrated the h~stilityfelt by many veterans toward li - the Conservati-~e>arty. AS such, it may have Seen of more help 16 ' to the provincial Liberals than the GAUV. . Yany of the canildctes contesting the 1320 provincial I election were ex-sal3lers xhs ran as members 3f the established -2art ies. Des~ite 3f f icial SWVA fli savowal c~fpolitical act ion, its msre proninent ne3blrs were very active during the ' t I campaign. The iioera:~nominst23 Ian Mackenzie for one of the ':ancouver Zit_? seats. 3acksnzi2 offered to resign his 2rlsidency of the i'ancouver SWVA. However, the alacrity *ith which he aceede3 t3 rnem3ers1 'pleasM that he stay on I i.?--iizstss that this xas merely a gesture. At one election nteting he rad into tr~cble.After he had praised the Oliver'' . 1 ;3ver,?ment fzr its fair treatnent of the returned men, one of 1 zne auiience r2ferrsd to the GAUV bonus demands, asking about r. 'm " tire thaus3n3". Yackenzie deftly diverted Ehe question c3war3 the T3ries. 3e declared that the man would never get "ci~thusand" :f ye v~tedC3nservJative, as this would be, \ 17 "strtngfhenin; 5% hand of !4eighen and Calder". - Tr,s Lr~eralasrpent lavishly during the campaign. In an attempt to draw the reform voters of 1916 back i-nto the &ld, I =. 'f - they addressed soldiers, -women,- and labour in large . 43 . advertisements s&?clfically targetdd at each group. An t --- - advertisement in. the Daily World infdmed veterans that -""Under+ tr.,. Oliver Government British Columbia Leads all Provinces in Legislation foL the Benefit of Returned Soldiersw. '< It then went on to list the BCRSAC, the land settlement scheme, taxation relief, sbidiers' housing and relief payments as examples. It conc .udecl: "rJ'oviously it is in the interests of 311 returned mn t= assist in returning this Liberal I 3dministrAtion wl~ha substantial working majority in order , ' may c3ntique its good work in the interest of British f that/- flt Columbia veterans -- 'J~tefar a Liberal Candidate on December litn. In a full gage advertiriexknt placed in the Vancouver Sun, flve of the sixteen citizens wrhc, explained xhy they would voLe "the straight Liberal ticket" were I saldiers, and f lve were women. One of the soldiers, Tom Harnett, Past President ~f the Vancouver GWVA and t'he Returned Soldierrs Club, was quoted as saying: ' supporting the 3liver ,Government because in my sginion they are B playing the game with returned soldiersw. The Liberals rqwarded their supprters; in 1921 Harnett was made a member of b the Vancouver polize commission, a Liberal patronage appointment. In t hl same year vJames'3. Falconer, featured in the sane advertisement, was appointed to the Liquor Control 33ard. Other Liberal advertising emphasized Ian Mackenzie's ?residency of the Y3ncouver SrWAr in stark conflict with that ." organization's stated policy, significantly, his earlier 4, / connection with the aht i-labdur Re turned Men's Law and Order 18 League was omitted. I Elsewhere, veterans weFe active in the opposition campaign. Tom i3arnsr3, a GWA member, was nominated to contest the Nanaimo riding f~rthe Federated Labour P~rty. In' New u > * ;.;esk.ninister ex-soi5jer XTJ. Sloan was chosen as a i soldier/labout candidate at a megtipg which included members ~f + the GWA, the- 2.432, the Fisher-nen's Protective Association, the ygrkers. ?loan's w3s run by New Westninster CTR.'A President In North Vancouver the candidS?y of lndepe~dent2x-a~l51 er George Sanuel Hanes was Qndorsed by the 2 0 l2zal SWVA. TnB Consena tlve 2krty had its supporters dmong veterans a 31lt in Vancouver, GFTrA 2ast'President C.W. Whittaker and d 3 Captain Daykin of the AiN were disappointed as2irsnts for a C9nservstive candidacy.. Canon Joshua Hinchlj ffe, an A&N activist, was nmi9at;d as a Conservative candidate in .- . .!. 2'ictoria.. , Colonel'?. Lister, the disenchanted founder of C mp' . - . . 4- i ~.?I Lister, a soldiers' agricultukal settleme-nt, ran for the !, .' , .I- -2- :- C~~nservativesin ihsls. Led by ex-premier William Bowser, a 7 rlghc ding Conservative, thhparty ran a negative campaign, s zriticizing Libera: reforms. The Tories' main promise was a ."-. ..I "clean business administrationn; theg offered little that might appeal to the i supprted the / '" 4 4 $A - 92 * t-?ie s-itirdkion, Ynen nominations closed there yere approximately -60 candidates whg werz not af filiated to the traditional ?a'-ties. In South iiahzouverr the incumbent, J.W. ~d~ntosh, Chairnan of the Gnltsd, . Service Council, ran as an independent. d Several candidatis in the interior .ran on soldier,/farmer tickets. 2,o- 3n 1st DecenSer 2320, Preinier 3liver and his Libsrals "rade out the stsrm," selecting twenty-six nenSers, compared tu the Conservatives' fr3urteen. F3ur labour candidates and ,three majority of four in the legislatdre. Clearly the Liberals were nuch less popular than they h2d been in 1316, but the majority gained in 1920 served its purpose -- the party would not have to seek another mndate until 1324 wkn the wsrst yeaks of the post.-war depressidn wer2 over. Two of the three independents tha't were elected were soldiers: Mdjor Richarcl'aurde in ~laerni,and George Hane3 in North Vancouver. But tiio indepen8ent soldier XLA~~OSt their seats: XcIntosh in South Vancouver, and Ziolma in Victoria 'who came 17th in a field of nineteen. Most ~f th'e veterans that were elected had, run as nenbers of established parties. Colonel Lister won ~Kasloand ftllow Conservative Canon Hinchli.ffe became one of the four Tv'ictoriamembers. Veteran F.A. Pauline won the riding of ~abnichfor the Liberals, defeating a Conservative add the 1 labour nominee. 2 \ In Victoria, uhere nineteen candidates contested four ,, seats, the i;AUV,/laoour candidates came 12th, 13th, 14th and . L 5 - - 0 a ..+ L 3 > ,3 3 JJ -r( - 0 r( '-4 9 C Z 0 r-i .C a a 0 JJ i-l I: 0 C a r- ,d -4 1: CV '- .4 0 0, m b, D 'Y I: lJ =I '&I '=F : 0 a . @ *A E 4 P a 77 cU a a, i-l 2 i--1 a, c L LZ a c, 0 U JJ a, a m a Ll 0 a CJ 4 W -4 U 4, W a 0 J n - 0 r r-i .c A! P 0 U w c, rO 0 c C - r( Z: a, 0 .,-I -4 E h) L, 4-J E 24 V) m 0 C Q1 - 3 C a, a C U a J 0 I= L a, C L r-i a4 3 d a m a 4J a d - r( N 4J U 0 W t-4 0 a, J 4 * JJ LI m n W h 2 c a, F a ill Q, .C 4 0 x 3 OJ JS 4 c n .r( .4 -4 a, bJ . W C) a 4 a U c .-I C Ill r-i .-i 4, .r( W 0 7 u > a n W 0 m 0 4, Ll Ill CD 0. n. :* Cn (2) -3 w -u C) LJ . I: cf ti 3 CU m \D t-c E IU cn :* 0 r-i I: (1 1:- w dJ - h c, 3' h L I -c -4 O r-i a, c, 5 c (0 ,tn al a a, a, 6, "3 E u-4 n 3 U c, .d 'a, 0 w U m m LJ () LJ .d n , a, h m. 1 I .d 1-4, a, U b n cn Z1 a 0 E C C '2 m a,# E 0 - 0 a a, .r: a,I 0 0 O 0 !.A I- 4 E ~remie; liver's Liberals were to face the next two years of depression without a programme that realist>cally addressed the problem of unemployment. Despite their election P + advertising they were to be peculiarly unsympathetic to the I. needs of the less fortunate veteran -- the one who had failed- to find employment, or who had found-only temporary work in . - British Columbia's vulnerable reso-urce industries or in its d;ing shipbuilding concerns., -. Notes. 1. B.C. Veterans Weekly, 24 ~pril1919, pp. 3-4, 6. . - 2. Martin Robin,The Rush for +?pails: The company Province., 1871-1933 (Toronto, 1972) pp. 162-164, 181-3; J. Laxer & M. Laxerf he ,.Liberal Idea of- ~anada(Toronto, 19 77) p. 20; Canadian Xnnudl Review: 1916 (Toronto, 1917) pp. 775-9. 3. R~bin, he Rush for Spoils, p.181. 4. B.C. Veterans Weekly, SpecYal Souvenir Issue, June 1919, p. 11. 3 5. B.C. Veterans Weekly, 1 May"i919, p. 16. 6'. Victoria Times, 7 December 1'918, .p. 12, B.C. Veterans Weekly, 24 April 1919, p. 12. 7. Robin, The Rush for Spoils, p. 175, %,C. ,Vetewns I Keekly, 24 April 1919, p. 12. I 7 i 3; Morton and Wright, "The Bonus Campaignn, p. 161; B.C. Veterans Weekly, 20 November 1919, p. 9 and 23 t~anuarymO, p. 6. t - 9. Canadian Annual Review: 1919 (Toronto, 1920) pp. 621-622; PAC, Borden Papers, MG 2.6 H1 (a), ~ol.112, pp. 61-036-7, RNWMP, E. Division's ~eporton Vancouver,, 15 Nov-qmber - 1919. .- j 10. Province, 29 July 1920, p. 9; Colonist, 17 August 1920,~ancouverSun, 9 September 1920, p. 5; - .Lh. Informa t ion- on the GAUV is scanty; RNWMP reports covering the period *re not available; neither is the B.C. Veterans Weekly. The labour prPss largely ignored the new group. 11. . UBC, Special Collections, Prince Rupert Trades' and La~our . Council Papers, File 1-4, R.A. Webb to Prince Rupert Trades' and Labour Council, 18 September 1920; Chris Fu.lker, "A Viable 3ption: The Organization of the Soldier/Farmer/Labour Party for the British Columbia Provincial Election of 1920" (typescript)- 25 pp) courtesy ~f the author; Vancouver Sun, 10 September "7 1920, p. 1; Province, 15 Septeinber 1920, p. 7; ;olonisF, 29 October i920, p. 14 and 2 Novenber 1920, p. 2. 12. Daily World, 25 October 1920, p. 2, 26 October 1920, T. fit 27 October 1920, p. 1, and 29 October 1920, p.3; ~ulkes "A Viable 3ptionW p. 8. 13. Province, 10 Soveaber 1920, p. 16; Daily World, - 3 CSovenber 1920, p. 2. 14. ,2VA, Pamphlet Collection, Grand Army of irnited Veterans, b .,.. --. 2. - =F , __-- - d = +. 'd x ,P- OI - - 9 6 1 Pravincial Psf i tical ?fa tform, 1920. 7 15. PAC, Meighen Papers, MG 26, Vol. 54, C. 3435, pp. 030098-9, R.A. Webb to Prime Hinister, 29 October 1920. 16. "Ross riflen and "war profiteers" from the ~ai'ly 'World, 30 October 1320, p. 3; other quotations from the Province, 30 October 1320, pp. 12-15. d - 17. "Two. thousandn demand frm the Daily World, 10 November 1929, 2. 4; !43ckenzie1s GWVA presidency from the Province, 5 Novenber 1930, p., 39. I 18. Liberal advertisement listing government benefits in the Daily World, 21 3ctober 1920; full page advertisement for the "straight lioeral Licketn from the Vancouver Sun, 30 November 1920; HacXenzi e' s pres-idency of ZWVA noted in the C 1" Daily Wordd, 10 Noven'aer 1920, pp. 4, 18. Bg 19 Fulkebr, "A Viable 3ptio'nn, pp. 12-13, Province, 28 October 1920, p. 7; Daily World, 4 November 1920, p. 9. b 20. Fulker, "A Viable 3ptionn, pp. 12-15 & appendix; 3aily World, 3 Novegber 1920, p: 3; Robin, The Rush for Spoils, p. 154; Yargaret A. Ormsby, British ~olumbia:A J . Hlstory (Toronto, 1358) pp. 410-414. b 21. Ormsby, 7.414; Canadian Annual Review: 1920 ,. (Toronto, 1921) pp. 231-235. - - 22. ,Analysis of the Vancouver results is difficult as not all parties ran a f ullb slate of candidates. Vancouver ( 6 Members ) M.E. Smith (Lib)...... 17,.510 . Ian A. Mackenzig (Lib) ...,.:.... 13,840 J.W. fleB. Farris (Lib)...... 12,550 - B James Ramsay (Lib)...... l2,279 ?I.&.Macdonald {Lib)...... l2,222 W.J. Bowser (Con)...... 11,617 3.P. Dougherty (Lib)...... 10,388 A George Black (Con)...... l0,2?8 Samuel i. Howe (Con)..... ;,...... 9,913 Edith L. Paterson (Con)...... : 9,573 Joseph Martin (Indj...... 8,123 - John ?I,Ya-han (Con), ...... 8,810 . W.R.Tr&ter iBed,Lab) ...... 7,481 , J.S. Woodswc~rth (Fed Lab)...... 7,444 T. Richardson (?edy,Lab)...... 7,192 Y.B. Cotsworth (Ind)...... ,..... 5,511 Esther Y. Crosfleld. (Ind)...... 4,166 G.J. Ashworth (Ind)...... 3,291 J; D. Harrington (~sc)\...... 2,956 J.L. Millar (ZAUV)...... 2,808 P.H. North (GAUV) ...... 2,633 -- -7 h 3 - 9 7 / 3.F." Smith {SOC),*.,..'..,~.~.. ,,,,2,267 . C. Stephenson I33~),...... 1,818 Sidney Earp (Sot) ...... 1,694 William McQuoid (Soc)..h...... , 1,524 T. Thomas (Ind Sold) ...... John Denis (Sot) ...... Source: Canadian Parliamentary Guide,' a, 0 .c c i3 .& 'C L W -4 a, A0 *cn IrJ 4 arc col L0.d oc Q)Cp( .d-4 3 4J4JcV mp ma- @go' za,cn 3 4 E 4 vlm C bb @ a as a,oa ..-I U >a. 'VOL a,wm caua .4 C E C 4J a - aam uc - CC3 m a,L L) c, QEa, a J=@3 UU3 LClV)' -d 0 om-4 w3u Ea,E o&C n o Q, m m k wvl> a,a,a-~~ I:mu a,mx - ..'-.( .. L43lmrlwa Y.. ..,_ U a, * ,., ,,: COa,dU @3C@Wh 4-J WOO da DTY 4 hc a r: n a,mu.+++Irof? C- ac da, 34JL49OCC: .-I U OUtl 3 C QC ..-I .E (U Q) *- a, Ua-E. h c 4.1 - *&',a, M a, LJ3.U scrrc-ca C ( authorities had made special arrangement; for the relief of i i . 1 unemployed veterahs. From 1920 onwar-d, any special > c3nsideration they received was gn an ad hoc basis, -5 designed to pacify specific groups. For'the most part their " $- i0 B military past becad@ an excuse for all levels, of government to *'a rc * "E * m resbnsibiiity for their welgare; -&$I '+ -4' %A. il 1940 Ot-tava wofjld continue tq t * Q inswhat ': unemployment xas a provincial jurisdicqion. But, as Struthers' o( detailed research tias the situation was no longer as '. simple as it had been before the war. Veterans were former / %? "employeesn- of the Federal government, and many did not have , .the residential qualifications that 'would allow them to claim 'bf", municipal .assistance. These circums tences a1loved provincial , and municipal governments to claim that ex-servicemen *re 3ttawa's problem. Prirqe Minrster Meighen rightly feared that 1 * if he assumed r?sponsibility,for veterans a precedent would be setdor a continuing federal role in helping the unemployed. 0 Veterans' problems had to be submerged in a f-ar from adequate [ response to the situation. T is policy was made- clear in a a 4 / federal statement on unemploym t issued'on 14th ~ecember1920, prarnising that Ottawa wouldt pay e third of the direct cost of . municipal relief. The first*federal acknowledgement of -u responsibility for the jobless was a hopeful move, but Meighen I 9 non'etheless ma Jrttained that the situation was -unique, justifying the action by the "extraordinaryP ircurnstance ok P 3 the war". reason given by provincial polit-icians for their m JJ i-i .rl (d a, a,vuLor a WOC w JJ -4 C a I: a, U 63L2 L3E a, rl 5 -4 $, a L cwa, a, h n Ern. a," a, - Urn' .,-i 5 - V'QE L JJ -4 6,JJL: mo- I xJJm E aaa, a, c . 0 i-i 4JJa a rl - r-4 0 aaa a, Lou - .- C L4 a m -A a, w m n .LI 4 a -4 TOO m rl u cdCL0 4 ad 3a,a E 0 h0ZC corn d3 'rl .rl 0 Ll 3 n a,c,mJJ a, E 0 C 2 g c Ltxna, il !..I oman, m 3 wccm a, *&J 3 3, h, L&JL m rl orla, 4 ..-I J: 0aJ-J -4 3 m >, ." ." 3 n a, h >i rn LJ a,' ,g u-4 .a, 3 L'E Oh71 La, C 4J ci a,cn03a,rn 0 m" n, m rr: AJ r. Crd.4L I3 aO'Q 0 UY 0 0 C Lr mcn 0-c. n L ac.4 crs a,a,nCns, 0 ZtE JU03 OLa,OrnFO rlm3cu L aL(da,uc,s E A= AJOAJ AJ a .mr:d a, u-4 da,aactl Ocn E aa ma, (UO A-I m L: AJ I-: m (1) 'n a, AJ a .rl L 3 W c ..4 cr. 'Ma,@ 'a, r: E -4 I, m rl m a, - 6hm4: 1n a, CJJC .a r (d C% C) cn' b. lJ LI pa, n -h3C 0 hum a a, JJ -d 34 L (J 0 (.) '3 a, a c c $, c a) .r( Q, c a, .c, 4.J rn m I: 0 a a I. 4.1 CU' EWa, C Ll Ew 4 H LJ cam(3 .4 lJ a. a, c 5 -n 4 LJ JJ .rl 0 a, 0 a UcnC .iJ a 4 n il, LJ (0 n, UJ a\ T *i,,U) 3 0 * ' -4 m 0 -4 .a, a .4a 3 d tn 0 . cn a, c a', u a, C W 0 .3 c, a, a, ' a IY; - a E a, C 'a, c, a a 0 E u C C a, 0 a, > a .rl 0 Q, 3 a, a -0 L: a ' 0 r-l 4J 3 0 m U E a, W a, a, cn -4 r-4 a, L .c m 4 C.l U 4 cv a L3 r-ia L C'JJ a, '" (0 > a a, Q) JJ L m a, LJ a, a I: (d h 3 I: a, 1: E u c, 0 c a, E a, a, L4 ., . JJ33 0 aja,ga 04aa j Y a,. E EUUC JJhO 0 C a "a, L 0 m LJrg- I: '30mrl w m mlb war: -c a, a, Mum a aco 225 men crowded into accomodation- deskgned for 120:. In ~ecernber'1920, 19,000 free meals were served. The basement was utilized -- extra blankets, extra stoves and a heater were - provided by city council: 0nl; the most needy were allowqd to use the Club. Those wh~managed t6 get a job had to leave; the 100'who were employed on civic relief wgrk at the end'of 1920 / 16 were evicted,,as soon as they received their pay. F In ~anu%r~1921, as unemployed veterans strove to, maintain e their dignity in these overcrowded conditions, they received a I B furthsr blow. T'le Ciua was to close at the end of February. C The obners I; of t5e building had leased the premises to other tenants. The Club' a directors sent sc?veral delegations to Council to plead for i-ts continuation. In view of the energency an extra month's lease was granted, but the Elysium aotel quarters closed on b1st Yarch 1920. It uas not the end of the Club, which open& Later in the year at another address. 'L 'L a However, it was then a much smaller operation and was not again 17 , associated with the jobless. The March 1321 closure ended the city's differentiation - .=% between unemployed veterans and rest of the jo'bless. Relief A 3fficer Ireland made it clear that the standards of the department applied equally to all. Those who could not get jobs were left to sat13ur charity in establishments such as the Central City Hissisn, Qecribed by Dr Underhill, the Medical , 3fficer of Zealah, as "dirty and lousy* and "a breeding place .- f~rvernin". In '.hese conditions there could be no doubt as to .-FI?I~ was the comri.de of the unemgloyed ex-serviceman -- not the comf3rtably situated executive of the GWVA, but his fellow in the ranks 4 m part 3f the Horkers' !L^ommunist) Party of Canada in 1922, The Canadian bia tional Ynion o'f Ex-Servicemen, established early in 1921, xss one ~f the grDups present when the ~ancouversection 18 9 of the party was f~rmed. , As the Re turned Soldiers' Club closed its doors this new veterans' organization was being formed. Duritng ~ebruar~1921 . Jack Kavanaugh an3 T33 3'Connor arranged an unemployment parade which began -at t% Club and continued on to City Hall. A m0nt.h later the Canadian National Ynion of Ex-Servicemen (Mux)was I -3 f3r;nally 'established. Its constitution expressed the anger and bittarness felt by unenployed veterans. Its aims were& J 1. To pr3ceet the s$&cial interests of the disabled and otker ex-servicemen, and of the descendents of the failen comrades. 2. To defeat the "divide and rule" tactics of the rnastsr class by 2ramoting the solidarity of the workers. 3. T=,vark t~war3the overttirow of capitalism, the cause sf vara an3 ~f a11 the social ev,ils from which ~e suffer. -+ Ye~Cerahipin the nex grsup w3s apjn to 'ex-servicemen of all - - 2sunt;ies om3i;er khan zmmissioned rank". The constitution's 5~t?ert2.-, de have Seen induced to become members / sf or:?:lz2 tisns rsact ionary in character, designed \ by ?ye r;li?g class not to concert, but to contr~l '-.-/-T =he skrsngth of the nembership; to render our ef forts a's2rt ive and our aspirations unpbtainable; a2?5 zs ?rrtlci,ate an inclination on our part to form #' B .associations that would perpetuate theC%ond of I sympathy and goodwill that ever attaches those who have shared common danger and sufferings. d 1 e I It went on to condemn the t'reatment of ex-soldiers: The results of international war have shown how va-in has been our sacrifice Wounded and broken we are denied even the access to the means of life. The " widows and orphans of our fallen comrades have . become tHe objects of charity while a ruli flaunts in our fake the wealth gai:led by and suffering and by the supreme sac ifice of our - comrades who fell on the field of 4tle. The preanble and objectives.- were approved unanimously by a founding meeting reportedly attended by several hundred. The constitution, in its final form, ensured that the organization could not be taken over by unfriendly forces'. .It mandated co-operahion with trade unions in order t6 represent a united front. But the CNUX carefully excluded member3 who belonged to, 3 fraternal order or'any other ex-service group from-iys. 19 executive. The new organization was apparentiy behind a parade of 600 - returned men who marched- to City Hall in late March 1921. They demanded that the city take care of unemployed ex-servicemen - ah3 were being forced out of lodging houses because of their inability t9 pay. The May2r replied that ~nlythose ex-ssy- icemen in the charge of the ~eturnedSoldiers' Club .were \. eligible f~rrelief. The CNUX then formed a committee to take i up the cases 3f individuals uh~hadhbeen refused help by both 2 0 tAe SCR ad the city. The organizstion's strength was well in evidence at the. I \ demonstratian that ~reetedBill Pritchard's to Vanc~uver \r after ssrving a ;ail sentence f3r his part c, c, . -4 L & saaEa,4 h E L a, a r U LC 0 ** acu :(: O WLa, c a JJ .rl 0 .4 4 JJ a, - T 7, g 3 w 77 "a L 'a, a v -a, a a com r-l 3 k Q, If, JJ JJ a. c cl organized by Jack Kavanaugh in the Dominion Hall. The city's business interests were alarmed. An organization headed by L. i kx-of f lcers was formed under the leadership of Lt, Col. Richard : Bell Irving, nwit purpose of assisting the - * authorities to Despite such protestations' it may well have bees this group that organiged the disturbance at A. Crawford's meeting. Af lvge mob gathered outside the hall where Crawfv was 'sgeaking. The Seventh Battalion Band arrived on the scene and played the National Anthem. The crowd joined in, B.. 1 in an atvempt t~ drown out Crawford's speech. the end of: e 4 ,- J- the meeting Crawf~rdwas escorted out through ide door, but 9 the audience were not so lucky: " most. ..we re rced to pass I through a lane formed by the waiting crowd and were forced to \ --\ bare their heads or even kiss the Union Jacks along, the line, end some blows weie ex~han~eha~imes." The situation gave cause for concern among the mi$ tary authokitips, in April 1921 J i they had an armed fofce of 175 men ready in cpdp of trouble; they could also call on 200 airmen and 500,, mi11 i ia. 24 T - 4 Labour and un,employed groups knew that the kind of real or threatened vi~lepcethat characterized the Crawford C. meeting had the tactit support of the authorities. Radicals c~uldexpect no such- tolerance. Even so, radical groups - successfully defle5 Hayor Gale on May Day 1924 The Mayor had fa-rbidden a ?lay Day &%eting on either f he Cambi a Stredt Grounds L\ /+ or in ?lastings Par*. A hastily passed city by-law stated that L the Union 2azk musf be flown at all parades. The MySDay Parade o - ieqt ahead, dra-ilg a crowd 2f 3,000. The mandatory Union Jack .. a 111 - was followed by the'fied Flag, carried by a bemedalled > ex-soldier. Comrade Sullivan of the CNUX acted as Parade Marshall. Af terwards an indoor meeting took place. 2 4 The activities of the CNUX, like those of the GAUV, hadr1,eft their nark on 'the GWVA. The senior veterans' group 4 i was failing. At - its Provincial Convention in June 1921 -. organizer Drinnan described the previous year as " trying". A shortage of funds led to a cut in the provincial execut'ive. The convention, realizing' that the GWVA had lost its supremacy, now declared itself in favour of amalgamation with other veterans' groupi. The sofry -of the B.C. Veterans Weekly is a,nother-indication of the association's waning fortunes. r In 1919 it had averaged between twenty and thirty pages -- in * 1921 it shrank t3 twelve per issue. The quality of news had / ~lsodeteriorated. Reports of inditidual branch activities i 6 *,. , were irregular and a large of 'the magazine was devoted . -. to reports of U.K. soccer. 25. Z The CN&'scharges of "of ficersl controln \of veterans' -. groups may 53ve inspirsd an attempt by GWVA members to change the rules governing the execyt ive. In June 192! t,he,~~anco4uver 1 ,- P 3ranch passed a r;salution making government employees ineligible for executive of •’ice, It was enthusiastdcally supported by Coarhde Leach, who in 1919 had oppased the branch's anti-strike- position, A similar resolution was put to the Viztoria'GWA. Needless to- say, the Vancouver leaders were / upset Sy tha noi7e and g&sed the matter to provincial execujive rhich rilled that it was Sey2nd the Vancouver group's authority. h. a,. z c, 0 had made his fortune in real estate.' He .maintained that the Y Economic cdunCil should* not be %apolitical organiqation- but a I 0 %e3 **&&I'f- business organ.iza t ionn%h=m&yers ' associations \ which we;e represen_ted included the ,B.C. Lumber and 'shingle - Associaton, the B.C. Loggers1 Association, the B.C. Salmon 1' Canners' Association, the Vancouver Real Esta h-e Exchange, the' Banke'rsl Associatibn, the Retail Merchants' Association, the , -' % Chamber of Hines, the ~rop'ert~Owners' ~~&.ociation,the Employers ' Association 2nd t-he Metal Trades Employers' -. Association.. Other rnembeGs included the Kiwanis lib, the . 4' 9 ' ~otariansand t.he ~~r"os. he University of aritish ~olbmbiaand ' the Xinisterial Association were also represented. The VTLC * sent delegates, though the poli tics,of that central labour body - 'i L had been drastically altered sinke 1919. After the- General Strike strike, its charter had been lifted, and its radical leadership had been replaced by conserva€iveunionists, loyal to the AFL. The Typographers 'were the only .individual unian tb 4 / 28 zend a delegate to the Economic council. The plan that eventually emerged was a business inspired version of economic co-operation. In order to pacify the \ .. jobless it asked for .$30QI00.0 from the "three levels of --l government, the amount had been spent on relief in the previo-us year. In addition, it*. requested $500,000 from the Provincial 5 Government, which was to be used for work oh the -universi,ty and. roads. In ieturn the Economic ~okcilwould supply jobs for all. Wages of 30 cents per hour would be paid to ttmse- who had foi-meriy been~employed. A strict systern of rationing would be enforced so that the men could be fed 'for 80 cents per day. 1n order to farce the jobless to submit to the plan, soup \L 29 t kitchens were to be closed and doles discontinued. Sot surprRsingly the plan met with a great deal of , i,. 'ske2ticism and h~stility,It went too fa/J) for. some of those who had taken part in it. Neither the GWVA. nor the VTLC representatives agproved the 30 cent rate of pay, but they rationalized their 3cquiesence to the business na jority, saying I that they had to compromise in order to get 3 general plan agreed on. Edit~rPaige of the 8.C. Veterans Weekly was 31es3 unhappy. He felt that "if each individual employer on the -. ' Ee3nomic Council, with the financial men assisting, were to set I, the whe'els of their own machinery , many men now unemployed would be given work , flng He criticized the b _ zoerzive nature of the plan: ".. .at presen4 conscription of / - labour is not requirsd. If conscription is necessary it' is --\ conscription of the organizing, managing and f lnancial ly z~ntrollingclasses that should be aimed at.' It30 In response ta the ,E,-anomie Council a spcial unemployment =2nfarence, organized by the provincial government, was held in - - I 'L'aneouver in August.. 132 1. +everal veteransf organizations sent . representatives. A delegate from the New Westrniqster GWV~said tnst ;?s fivoured publie works. Comrade Taylor suggested the -1nlzlpafities clear vacant lots and that the province build sl~ggestedinstead a ninimum wage law: Xct a minimum wage law whereby a girl of sixkeen will oe paid sufficient to buy face powder, but a , Ll c.cV-4 avo P 4Ua a or woman is nat given the wherewithal to buy for the . resuftsof their labour inproduction. We can't do J that, never have been able to do it..',the employers of lab6ur themselves are the men who could do more to relieve the situation than hnyone else., Webb did not see vatters improving under the existing economic system, and expressed little faith in the work of the Economic Council. 3ne scheme he thought might help xas government d unemployment 'insurance for ex-servicemen .' iig ha2 actively Y -, lobbied the Pede5P G~vernmentfor this, but had Seen told that wf "L, there should be no di fferenc,e between the veteran and the non-veteran. Webb pointed to the hypocrisy of this position: C YDU kn~wwhat they -called the man who went overseas, he w'as a hero; and you knpw what they called the men that stayed at home. They [the , Federal +Gcivernment] made the difference, but now beca~seit suits them, they want us to quit making ,' the difference. Webb stated that conferences could not solve thp-qnemployment ,- iituqtion ending his specHwith a warqng: "there is no man> that is going to stand for being starved". But in the winter R 4 2f 1321-22 the price of not starving yas-to be humiliation at 3 3 the hands of ti-& city's 'authorit'ies. Mayar Gale, a nin~rfigure in the British Columbia Liberal t nierarzhy, app4ared syh2athetie to the ideas af the Econorn'ic Council, possi2ly Serause it could sa-ve him a great deal of tr~uble. The prnvi;,~;n of reliqf was an area where his actions z=iild. ?lease neither taxpayers nqr- unemployed. But the ~323s9f the Ecanoxl: Council fz~undno fav~uramong more 1 snuerf2l Liberala. T5e provincia-l government was not about to J P sorrender its juris5iction over.public works, and the Economic Zzzncil ?uizkly fa5e3 from public view as ?ther- s preparations 'I- d rl m 4 1 **-I m (7 c a) (I) 1, $6 .rl 14 'w (1) 1 C n) C1 (14 f 2 m 0 a, .C: I.' b 1 () 4 I cn a, C a .4 0 ri cn r-i -.-I a c 3 a C a, Cn E C -4 a C C L u 0 . E a, r C LI .. cn' 'a, C C L 0 -4 a, -d C U a 4J -rl 1 a C 0 E 0 c C 0 .d t-- 4J 0 m u, U 0' E a, c 10 IJ\ -r I U a, 0 a, to a 0 Y L r-i C -4 3 a - 4 r-l 0 IJ 0 L m I I 0 a, - UJ W JJ c .-i 0 0, 0 rr) L n CJ' C n 0 cn C 2 2 a .4 r JJ a, C-c a, L E m -4 a, 4J n-r a, U 0 .4 C Q' 0 10 LJ JJ -4 rT) .LJ JJ 0 m 3 -r rn o c, ,! ia a a, n a,' a, C >h a, C &J d, 10 (d U C - 4 including Percy Bengough, -former labour delegate on --the i 3' Economic Council, also reported f-avourably on the camp, Bengough would have had little sympathy for the politics of 3 9 such CNUX leaders as Secretary Bil; Farnham. P The Vancouver Branch of the CWVA had little sympathy with -.- the Haotings Park veterans. Its Gisi ting committee repbrted: "there is no returned so"hierls organization there that this organization can vasonably be expected to render financial aid to". It found the camp to be clean and "superiorn to many military camps. The cnly fault found was that the men only had < 50 cents a week left after paying board and lodging, and too - much "idle timen t6 spend it in. The GWVA committee recommended that inmates should be given more work. 23tricia 'I. Roy, the one hisk~cianwho has described the Hastings Pr~rk t n ,amp, interprets its condi t ions relatively favourably, but i misses the real 23int of the issue. Whatever the material zondi tions of the can; nay h3ve been, the psychological eondi tions -- the harsh discipline, the restrict ions on ~ersanalfreedom, a3d the s3cially useless xork -- inevitably 0 led t~ further zonfrantation. 4 On January 23th, 1922, two hundred and thirty-two men left, the canp and carried their baggage to CNUX headquarters at J~ggers'aall, t~ pratest the ejection of 3ne of t.heir msmbers. wh3 had made sn auth-zrized spsech. The protesters solicited \ Gr3ceries fr~r,1;zsl Terzhants. Six were picked up b; the ?~lizeand charged with vagrancy. The next day a City Council - - Teetinq ended In stilernate- as !lay~rTisdall expressed his -7 I t that: "Our [the GWA's] mission today is to act as mediator in 1 the adjustrnent of the une~ploymentproblem. " Later, he assured > , . -- , . a neetinqpof the Vancouver GWVA that the association, far from endeavouring to establish "class consciousness, A was seeking to establish a national conscioushess that would be "true tc~the , best traditions of the British ace and the ideals for which \ they hgd all fought overseas". At the same time the Association w3s"distributing charity; in 1921 the Vancouver Branch served 5,000 frze meals, which was partially responsible 4 5 forwits loss of $2,5 L7.12 during that year. 4 bter their turnout at the February mass meeting the . CSUX's organizing aef ivities fell off drama tically as the Rastings Pa;i,Cam? closed ~tsdoors. The proup t~okpart in the :lay Day parade an? then dropped out 2f slght. It did not L2 A , . ;r$app.ar in tht ulnEcr of 1922-2dThered*ere st111 a great , \ mny ~lnemployedbut the sxnmer of 1922 nad seen the beginning end of, several mj~r,publiz works, By the of the year theg ?rov incial 3eparc~eqt2f ia9oor reported that the "clou~of ,, 5epressi~nwas lifting". 4s the unemployment cr'isis eased vstarans see? t3 ha7,7e been absorbed into.+ the rest of the Notes . , 1. B.C. Federationist, 3 March 19-22,._ .. p. 1. - -'-.. 2. Vancouver Sun, 19 November 1920, $. 3 : Province 17 December 1920, p. 40. 3. Struthers, So ~kultof Their Own, pp. 28-29. L _,a 2 4. 'k&tish ~olurnb'ia, Sessional Papers, 1921, Vol. 1, "Repart of Minister of Labour fog, the Year Ending 31 December 5; PAC, MG 26, Yeighen Papers, Vol. 54, C3435, pp. 030351-2, Yajor General F.E. Edwards to Colonel Cy Peck, undated.. / 6. PABC, British Columbia Legislative Assembly, Sessional ' Clippings Bsok, 15 February 1319, and 24 February 1921. 7. Ibid. 1 March 1321. 8. PABC, GR 321, BCRSAC Minutes, 15 November 1920, p. 3 3. Vancouver, Sun, 19 November 1920, p. 3. ----10. CVA, Vancouver 2ity council Minutes,. 16 December 11. Province, 17 Dec 1320, p.36 and 21 Dqcemb~r1320, p. 4. . 12. Province, 20 December 1323, p. 21, 22 December 1920, p. 7, and 24 Decenber 1320, p. 7. L 13. Province, 15 Febrilary 1921, p. 1, and 16 February 1321, p. 17. 14. Province, 17 Decenber 1923, p. 26, 18 December 1920, ?. 13, 30 December 1323, p. 2, 3nd 7 January 1921, p. 7. 15. PABC, BCRSAC Records, Yicrof ilm B-2515, Financial Statement, Returned Soldiers 21ub, 10 May 1921; B.C. Veterans Weeklfi, 3 February 1921, -p. 9. 1-LO. Province, 8 January 1921, p. 22, and 1 February 1921, 3. 11. 17. PABC, BCRSAC Zecords, Xicrof ilm B-2515, Financial Stateqent, Returned Soldiers Club, 16 May 1922; CVA, City Clerk's Corres'pondence, File 13-F-5, Re turned Soldiers Club to Council, 14 Febraary 1921; CVA, Vancouver City Council, \ 7- 0 - F, 125 Minutes, 28 February 1921. '? 18. Doctor's comments cited in the Province , 28 December . 1920, p. 7, and 30 December 1920, p, 7; CVA, Vancouver Citp Council, Minutes, 31st January 1921; for the 'CNUX and communism see William Bennett, Builders of British Columbia (Vancouver, 1937) p. 144; Ian Angus, Canadian Bolsheviks: The Early Years of the Communist Party in, Canada (Montreal, 1981) pp. 66-1 02; William Rodney, Soldkiers of the International: A History of the Communist Party h.Canada, 1919-1929 (Toronto, 1968) pp. 37-39. 19. Unemployed narches from thg B.C. Federationist, 11 \. Feb 1921, p. 1; constitution of the CNUX from the B,C. \-'--' Federationist, 11 March 1921, p. 8; approval- - of document in B.C. ~ederatidni~st,18 March 1921, p. 1: I 20. B.C. .FederqtPonist, 25 March 1921, p. 1. k L 21. B.C. Federatibnist, 8 April 1921, pp. 1 and 8. 22. B.C. Federationist, 18 April 1921, p. 1. 23. ~iAdsa~Crawf~rd meeting described in the B.C. Veterans Weekly,, 28 April 1921, p. 9; military preparations from PAC, RG 24, Vol, 3985, NSC -1055-2-22, Secretary of Milifia Council, memorandum, 12 April 1921; ibid. Director of Flying Operations to Officer Commanding, Canadian Air Force, 25 April 1921. 24. 3.C. Federationist, 6 May 1921. 25. B.C. Veterans Weekly, 9 June 1921, p. 6. 26. Province, 20 July 19z2L, p. 2,. 3 August 1921, p. 4, .and 24 August 1921, p. 12; 3.C. veterans Weekly, 28'~uly / i9211 pp1 and 5. 27. Meighen on the "inevitabilityn of unemployment from Canada, House a•’ Commons Debates, 2 June 1921, p. 4361; ineeting with soldiers from the Provihce, 1 October 1921, p. 1. ' 28. YcRae on the "conamic Council frw the Province, 1'0 August 1321, 7.2; list of participants in PAC, RG 27, Vol. 1203, File 6f7.l.?J.l3, Transcript of Labour Conference, Ysncouver 10th August, 1921, p. 108. - 23. - ?rovince, 11 August 1321, p. 4. 30. Seed for exaloyer's action from the B.C. Veterans Keaekly, 1 Septe~ber1321, p. ' 6; 'conscription of labour" from the 3.C. Veterans Weekly, 10 September 1921 u 31. Labclur Conference B,anscript, pp. 29-30. 32, -Ibid.. pp. 65-71 --. _I- 33. Ibid. pp. 74-77 - 34. Province. 8 October 1921, p. 3. 35. Invasion of *oboesn from B.C. Veterans Weekly, 6; Galei s meeting with the jobless 2 November 1921, p. 1; -Aldermag- 25 November 1921, Q. 3. L 36. ale' on the Hastings Park -camp from Vancouver Sun, 2 December, 1921, p. 14; B.C. _Federationist, 25 ,November 1921, p. 3. 37. CVA, ci'ty Clerk's Correspondence, 1922, Report on' Special Empl'oyment Relief, Single Men's Registration; Province;. 6 December 1921, p. 18; Alderman Hoskin's complaint from Vancouver Sun, 16 December 19 2 1, p. 2. 38. B.C. Federationist, 16 December 1921,, p. 1, and 22 December 1921, p. 4; vancouver Sun, 16 December 1921, pt 9 39. Unsatisfactory camp condi tions from the OBU Bulletin, 30 March 1922, p. 4; attempts t-o enlist sapport of organized labour frorc,the- ail^ world, 4th January 1922, p. 11. ' . favourable report of conditions from the Daily- World, 9 - January 1922, p.3; Bennett, Builders o•’ British Columbia, r p. 144. p" 40. CVA, city Clerk's Correspondence, 1922, P. Smith, Secretary, Vancouver GWVA to Mayor Tisdall; Roy, "Vancouver: '~ec6aof the Unemployed'," pp. 401-407. 41. Vancouver Sun, 2 6 January 192 2, . p. 1 ; ~rov'ince, 28 January 1922, p. 16. a 42. .~rovinca~;3~January 1922, p. 2. w 43. Province, 1 February 1922, p. 20. 44. Province, 13 February 1922, pp.. 7, 22t.report on parade from the 8.C. Federationist, 3rd Harch, 1922, p. 1. 45. Province, 15~February1922, p. 11. 46. ROY, 'Vancouver: 'Wecca of the Unemployed'." p.408. ' CONCLUSION. After the Great War there was opportunity ta form a , strong, united veterans' movement that would press ficr kocial , - change i'n order to make ~anadaa 'home fit for heroesn. But there was nokgneral agreement about the means that should be used to effect this end. Less than •’out years later, the ideal - of social justice was almost forgotten, as fragmented ve * ' organizations struggled to survive. In the midst 'of this struggle unemployed ex-servicemen were abandoned to radical / ~rgani~tions. /' ,, ' The differing interests and political views of returned> .., /'= //-- .+-I soldiers were evident in the opposing ideologi-es of Vancouver / \ veterans' groups before the General Strike of 1919. The largest \ group in the city, the Great War Veterans' Association, was / controlled by an executive who opposed the city's Trades-and 1/ Labour Council, l'abelling it bolshevik. at her thh? listening k to the views of dissident members the GWVFexecutive, 0 -? dominated by govesnment bureaucrats, employed all its strength to quash proposals with which it disag~eed.The organization took an important role during the strike, providing the head of \ the Returned Citizens' Law and Order League, and passing a widely publicised antl-strike resolution. At that tine the GWVA had considerable infldence among the dity*syeterans -- its U ineffective lobbyingct&tics had not yet been discredited. * 128 Alchough it was the largest organized group, the Vancouver GWVA<- . - - did not speak for the majority of the city's veterans. The F' strikers' dema-nds, which included a bonys and improved pensions fsr ex-servicemen, had considerable appeal. Many ex-servicemen were strikers; many belonged to the pro-labour Campaigners or the Comrades. The meetings of the radical Ex-Soldiers' and' Sa llors' Labour Council were packed. ~conorniccondi t ibns also had their effect on militancy. A* the time of the General G Strike British-Columbia was- still feeling the effect of war contracts and there was a steady demarid for its staple - commpdi ties. Veterans' post-war discharge pay meant that most L were not immediately exposed to the job market. Th~ugh , ex-servicemen were reluctant to .join the "law-@nd-brder" , . Returned Citizens League, Vancouver did not experience the kind of' militsant displ*~ of veterans' support for the strike that cook place in k'innipeq. The city's veterans thus failed to {take advantage of the opportunity to ally themselves with the '. strikers, whose demands recagnized their grievances, at a time when their support zould have helped improve the lot of all - - workers. Af ter the strike, divisicns between ve.terans deepened. Thouqh the GWVA remained the largest group in the city, its failure to end~rse-the controversial bonus scheme los't it many I ne~bers. In the wlnter of 1919-1920 it was apparent that ZnTh lobbying for better re-establishment terms would have no , . sffect on the Federal Government. In 1920 the ,association was I challinged by the qrwth of the Grand Army ci 8nited Veterans, 129 < 7 a breakaway .group of dissatisfied veterans. The GAUV had r Tsgveral attractions. It endorsed a cash gratuity, something the GhTA ref used .ts do. It put forward a reformist Provincial political platform, designed to appeal to a broad range of interest groups. The GAUV also tried to make alliances with farmer and labour groups. But it 'arriv,ed too late in the day. Its programm2 gained little support in the 1920 B Provincial election; two years had passed since the signing of the armistice and the momentum of the veterans' movement- had alraady been l~st-- ca'nadians were keen ,to return to business as usual. The Provincial elect ion took place be•’ re Vancouver could feel the •’311 effects of .the post war depression, In the two yedrs that followe3, the absence of a united veterans' group b -" ed all three levels of government to deny responsibility ,•’.or ,jobless ex-servicemen, who only on rare occasions were i 4 distinguished from the rest of the unemployed. The two senior / levels of government did contribute grudgingly to relief ?ayments, but it gas the ml~nicipalltiesthat bsre \th majgr responsibility. Yany 3f th+ir actions were dictated b$ a need?c - ;5 2azlfy the unein~loyed-\reteran. To that end Vancouver did 51stlnguish bet~eenveteran an3 civilian in the winter of 1320-1321. Ths aGreenent %hereby the Re turned Soldiers' Club cars5 f3r jobless ex-servicerien had the advantage of economy 2nd also of rs~latr?ga gmke3tially troublescme grsup. . The arranGsmsnt seems t= have been a rn33e,rate success. 3 c I 39spite residecka af the clus joining in the hanger and h t 4 a, C 1J 0 a, tt .n a, 'rl C: 0) .A rn a m E: .n a) I Ll :- r.1 I.: 'r? LJ m 0 0 lo (11 0 Ll I31 - 1 f and a representative t.=,address the May Day Parade. The group seeTs to have gainsd a general acceptance in the city and coctinued its presence until it amalgamated with others to ' 1 form t&-Ca~adian Le-j,sn in 1925. >, Though it ?,ad l~sta great deal of its power and influence 5~-t:?eend sf 1921, the 'GAT.: xas still the l3rgest,veter'anst 3rganiz3tion r?i fansda. Thz GAUV's programme had attracted a 13~72number ;f dl senchanted ex-servicemen dhlle the Ariny and x-L.13vy Veterans -3ctl~iled2n c2u;se with a smaller, but steady r,. rrr ,,crtion of ~sierazs. In Souember 1921- the national ~e~bership?f :ye l2r;est ;leterans1 groups -43s: GWVA, 50;000; m, ... , =s;L, 20,000; A:''-.;G?i, 12,520. Amalgamation b came the theme of =s~n~leasaelir?gs+-' i 33 ve tera-s' groups re3llzede' that they coul? -3ny other glazes, iiscussi2r.s *ere ham9ere3 by groups' I A - 132 ' synb3llzed the v:=tory of the forces of pacification. While > N narrowly defiqiqg he Legion as a service club, it contained zla~sethat denied radicals entry: "No avowed 3r other person who adv~catesthe destrict ion cf sryanized government shall be permitted to 3 bezgr~e3r ranain 3 rnenber". As this sr_.:jy is li~litedto the city of irancouver, many 2uestlons rzra-n llna?sderzd, For example: '3 what extent did r tne presence ;f 31ternate 3rgan1za tions, that 31 scontented XW -nenGera cslili ;sl?, a11,~~ the GWVAf s Vancouver executive t3 assert ~tscsz~rs; Dver tne branch? A comparison with / vetarans' gr232s 12 s~kerzities might prove useful. In - - i'lztoria and '?;e.d he;;~iins ter ye terans and labour a?pear to have e3-cp2rated. ,.,l,-g-a is an obvious city tg study, 'as militant rank akile vet2raF.s were able to take 3ver its GWA at a 3rfti~31cf~e. It -lif;;'ld 313s be interestin2 t3 explore the rl-e~er~eneesf rs3::3: veteransf qroups 1-1 the 1330s. ,What xers the csnnect;s-,s, if sny, between the CNZX and the .. . . iy.< in.;-" ,lass ?x-Ssr-.-i=e~,e-s' League and ~therlef t-wing >., sr3aniz3tic; I? t2e early 132" :=ne failure 3f the veteransr movement I -1-01~311ty A"Y, 333 i.?3-;:3y~e,?t less\ ~bvious.?rime Yinister King, Consequently, in the depression of the 1930~~Canadians, a _f 2 /-A large number 3f %hem veterans, suffered unnecessary hardship , due t~ 3 lack of unemployrrent insurance and 19 40 constitutional amendment allowing a Federal unemployment sche'me to be put in pla'ce. Ironically enough, it was a'fear of problens in re-establishing the veterans of the Second World .- ~+arthat made this prggramme' appsaling to Prime =Minister King. I 1. B.C. Federationist, 3 March 1322, p. 1, +nc3 5' May 1922, 2.1. 2. 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