Continuing from Marilyn Jensen’s 1988 interview, Arnold discusses his move to Calgary in 1936 and the formation of the Calgary chapter of the League Against War and Fascism:
“I came out west and I arrived in Calgary and the first thing I did was organize a League in Calgary. I had property Calgary at that time – a house up on the north hill that was rented out for a number of years. So that brought me back to Calgary. The tenant had moved or was going to move and I came back. As I say, the first thing I did was organize a League. We got a lot of support in Calgary.
Norman Priestley was the president of the UFA and [he] and his wife were members of the first League that I organized in Calgary.The editor of the Western Farm Leader, W. (Walter) Norman Smith, a Manchester man who was very active – Norman Smith and his wife Amelia were in our league. Mrs. William Carson - Marion Carson she was known as.... was a marvellous old woman. She lived in a big red house on Fourth Avenue S.W. We used to have meetings at her house. I remember at one committee meeting I was the chairman. The meeting was in progress and someone had come to the door. Mrs. Carson came to me and said, “Mr. Chairman, I’m sorry to interrupt the meeting but there is somebody at the door. As you know, I’ve been away in Europe and my sister had been living here alone and she put one of these locks on the door.” She said, “Mr. Roberton, I never lock my door in Calgary and I can’t get it opened.” So I had to excuse myself from the meeting and go and open the door and show her how to open the lock. But that’s the kind of woman she was...She lived in this house in Calgary and never locked the door day and night."
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Chapter 22 - Norman Bethune 1935 - 1936
While working with the Montreal branch of the League Against War and Fascism, Dad approached a young Canadian doctor named Norman Bethune with the hopes of getting his support.
"At one of our meetings we all took several names. There was a list of people in the Montreal region, prominent people that had expressed concern about fascism rising in these countries. I was given three names to call on. I remember two names: Norman Bethune, who was a doctor - I had to call on him and another man, George Mooney. George Mooney said yes, there was need for such an organization and that he couldn’t attend the mechanical meetings – the machinery of setting up an organization but he would lend his name in support. I went to see Bethune and [he] was interested at that time in painting. There was a young German immigrant, his name was Fritz Brandtner. He became quite a well known artist. (Bethune) and Brandtner were friends and I used to meet with (them) and other people that were in the same kind of walk of life - liberal-minded.” (According to the website CyberMuse, Bethune arranged an exhibition of Brandtner’s work at Henry Morgan and Co. to benefit the Canadian League Against War and Fascism.)
"Bethune was a malcontent medical man, comedian medical man who was critical of the whole medical field. He felt that doctors were not being used in a good social sense at all in Canada and that people who really needed doctors couldn’t get them. So he became kind of a malcontent doctor. At one stage he got tuberculosis and he cured himself by radical methods. He was this type of man. As I say, I went to see Bethune and Bethune came into this thing with both feet, so to speak. He was very enthusiastic – a young man. We sent three of them over to Spain, Dr. Bethune, Hazen Sise, and another young man. I’ve forgotten his name.”
"At one of our meetings we all took several names. There was a list of people in the Montreal region, prominent people that had expressed concern about fascism rising in these countries. I was given three names to call on. I remember two names: Norman Bethune, who was a doctor - I had to call on him and another man, George Mooney. George Mooney said yes, there was need for such an organization and that he couldn’t attend the mechanical meetings – the machinery of setting up an organization but he would lend his name in support. I went to see Bethune and [he] was interested at that time in painting. There was a young German immigrant, his name was Fritz Brandtner. He became quite a well known artist. (Bethune) and Brandtner were friends and I used to meet with (them) and other people that were in the same kind of walk of life - liberal-minded.” (According to the website CyberMuse, Bethune arranged an exhibition of Brandtner’s work at Henry Morgan and Co. to benefit the Canadian League Against War and Fascism.)
"Bethune was a malcontent medical man, comedian medical man who was critical of the whole medical field. He felt that doctors were not being used in a good social sense at all in Canada and that people who really needed doctors couldn’t get them. So he became kind of a malcontent doctor. At one stage he got tuberculosis and he cured himself by radical methods. He was this type of man. As I say, I went to see Bethune and Bethune came into this thing with both feet, so to speak. He was very enthusiastic – a young man. We sent three of them over to Spain, Dr. Bethune, Hazen Sise, and another young man. I’ve forgotten his name.”
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Chapter 21 - Communists and Section 98 of the Criminal Code
Following the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919, the federal government implemented Section 98 of the Criminal Code banning “unlawful associations” and specifically aimed at any progressive group or organization considered to be “communist” Because the League had a very left-wing membership, the entire organization was quickly branded “red” and placed under RCMP surveillance. Dad was often asked about the “communist” connection and this was his reply:
“We had a vast following of people in Montreal. Church people, radical people, labour movement people, trade unions and of course, lots of communists. People used to say to me “We support your movement but you should get rid of the communists.” And I said, “Well my position on that is when you’re fighting a fire – a house or two houses on the street – and everybody runs out to put out the fire, you don’t stop to ask whether he’s a communist or not. The most important thing is to put out the fire. Our society is on fire at the moment. Fascism is rising across the world and you have to fight against them. If you don’t, we’ll be just like the German people. We’ll be overtaken and ruled by fascism. We’ve got to go fight.” So that was my position. The objection that communists were involved was invalid to me.”
Commenting on Section 98, Dad recalled:
"This section of the Criminal Code gave rise to a great many jokes and one song that was sung at the time was a song base on the tune “Mademoiselle from Armenties”. One of the verses I remember sang:
“The red fire plug, red underwear, parlez-vous
Your red tie and my red hair, parlez-vous
Red anything the Mounties state
Comes under Section 98
Inky dinky parlez-vous”
Friday, March 11, 2011
Chapter 20 - The Ten Days That Shook The World
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| Binky Marks and Arnold Roberton |
Separate from League Against War and Fascism, Dad and Binky Marks managed to purchase a copy of Sergei Eisenstein’s film The Ten Days That Shook the World, a film based on journalist John Reed’s book about the Russian Revolution. Sometime in 1935 they took it “on the road” in Ontario. Dad recalls:
“It was a long film. I think it was about eight or ten reels. It was based on John Reed’s book of the same name. John Reed, as you know, was a young American journalist who went to Russia to study the Russian Revolution from an academic point of view. It became a very famous book. The film was made and based on that book and directed by Sergei Eisenstein. Binky Marks and I bought a copy of that film down on Broadway, New York. We went down there to interview a man about films and we bought this copy and showed it through Canada, through Ontario.
That was a most interesting phase of my film business because nearly every town that we went into in Ontario refused allowing the showing of any picture of Russia. It was just a wall of blank refusals that we met. So I had to devise a program to overcome that wall of resistance. Other times it was just pass-the-buck resistance – “well it’s alright with me if you see the Chief of Police and get his approval and if you see the Mayor and get his approval”. Always passing-the-buck.... Many times you’d get what you thought was the necessary approval and then the Fire Chief would appear and say you had too many people for the hall. All kinds of open and hidden resistance had to be overcome. I found the most successful tactic was to point out the fact that John Reed’s book was available in every public library in North America. “Now as Mayor, you don’t want to put yourself in the position of banning a film, the book of which is available in every public library.” That was a good one! Any sort of ridicule in the press and it was a successful tactic in dealing with the small political opportunists that were mayors and fire chiefs and police chiefs.
There was tremendous [interest]. Sometimes the fire chiefs had a legitimate complaint! The crowds were so big that it was dangerous. Aisles had to be cleared etc. But the interest at the time was tremendous. Nothing in the press...you know Russians were just a bunch of bastards. People knew nothing about Russia. They’d just been led to believe the North American press that the Russian people were just a bunch of nudnicks walking neck-deep in snow. You know, the idea that Americans have of Canada...so all these prejudices had to be broken down. There were dozens and dozens of cases where they told us we couldn’t proceed with showing a film about Russia but they couldn’t make it stick. We overcame it by open ridicule and sheer logical insistence. There was one case I remember: We said “Well if you don’t allow us to run this film we’ll run another film and I’ll use the platform time explaining to the audience that you wouldn’t allow us to show it and giving your reasons and discuss that aspect of democratic government. They couldn’t stand that. It was most interesting to see the ingenious ways to pass the buck from one department to the other.”
“It was a long film. I think it was about eight or ten reels. It was based on John Reed’s book of the same name. John Reed, as you know, was a young American journalist who went to Russia to study the Russian Revolution from an academic point of view. It became a very famous book. The film was made and based on that book and directed by Sergei Eisenstein. Binky Marks and I bought a copy of that film down on Broadway, New York. We went down there to interview a man about films and we bought this copy and showed it through Canada, through Ontario.
That was a most interesting phase of my film business because nearly every town that we went into in Ontario refused allowing the showing of any picture of Russia. It was just a wall of blank refusals that we met. So I had to devise a program to overcome that wall of resistance. Other times it was just pass-the-buck resistance – “well it’s alright with me if you see the Chief of Police and get his approval and if you see the Mayor and get his approval”. Always passing-the-buck.... Many times you’d get what you thought was the necessary approval and then the Fire Chief would appear and say you had too many people for the hall. All kinds of open and hidden resistance had to be overcome. I found the most successful tactic was to point out the fact that John Reed’s book was available in every public library in North America. “Now as Mayor, you don’t want to put yourself in the position of banning a film, the book of which is available in every public library.” That was a good one! Any sort of ridicule in the press and it was a successful tactic in dealing with the small political opportunists that were mayors and fire chiefs and police chiefs.
There was tremendous [interest]. Sometimes the fire chiefs had a legitimate complaint! The crowds were so big that it was dangerous. Aisles had to be cleared etc. But the interest at the time was tremendous. Nothing in the press...you know Russians were just a bunch of bastards. People knew nothing about Russia. They’d just been led to believe the North American press that the Russian people were just a bunch of nudnicks walking neck-deep in snow. You know, the idea that Americans have of Canada...so all these prejudices had to be broken down. There were dozens and dozens of cases where they told us we couldn’t proceed with showing a film about Russia but they couldn’t make it stick. We overcame it by open ridicule and sheer logical insistence. There was one case I remember: We said “Well if you don’t allow us to run this film we’ll run another film and I’ll use the platform time explaining to the audience that you wouldn’t allow us to show it and giving your reasons and discuss that aspect of democratic government. They couldn’t stand that. It was most interesting to see the ingenious ways to pass the buck from one department to the other.”
Monday, February 28, 2011
Chapter 19 – The Canadian League Against War and Fascism/Berlin Olympics protest
Quoting from Marilyn Jensen’s interview, this is how Dad describes the evolution of the Canadian League Against War and Fascism:
“In the early thirties, things began to happen in the world – fascism – and it was being instilled in Italy and Germany and the rest of the countries were beginning to follow. Certain elements in society thought that Hitler was the man to solve the problems in Germany, and the German legations – the Nazi legations. There were literally nests of Nazi activity across the world. There were legations in Canada, in Montreal and Toronto and Calgary too. They were all active.
I spent one winter in Montreal, and in Toronto, I joined an organization of people who were well aware of the trends towards fascism. It was called the League Against War and Fascism. It was a left wing organization made up of socialists and communists. The general philosophy of the organization was that everybody should join in, socialists, communists, church people...We had many church people in the League, particularly the United Church. The United Church gave good support to the organization. We had some great meetings. I remember one of the meetings was in Montreal and was in protest of Canadian participation in the 1936 Olympics which were to be held in Berlin. We contended that the Olympic ideal – free sports – competitive sports for all people should not be held in a fascist country because the fascists had a racial and discrimination belief. We contended that it had nothing to do with the Olympic ideal which was for free sports, for all types of people, for all types of competitors. And therefore we protested against holding the Olympics in 1936 which was the following year in Berlin.”
This protest took place in the Montreal Forum in 1935 during a Montreal Canadiens’ or perhaps a Montreal Maroons hockey game. The plan was that after the first period, leaflets would be fanned out over the stands by members strategically placed around the top of the stadium. Then, at the second period, girls (as Dad called them) were to come out onto the ice with a 40 foot banner that read “No Canadian Participation in the Berlin Olympics”. Apparently, when the time came and with the arena packed to capacity, the girls backed out, so Dad and another man headed out onto the ice with the banner.
First, I’m assuming hockey and politics were not an ideal mix. Dad and his colleague quickly found themselves rushed by a mob trying to tear the banner down. Also, at that time, a pro-Hitler anti-Semitic organization known as the National Unity Party had established roots in Quebec and Dad always maintained that once on the ice, the mob turned its focus to his partner who was Jewish. Luckily, enveloped in a cloud of steam, the two of them escaped out an emergency exit into a -40 below Montreal night. Nevertheless, Dad remembered this as a very effective demonstration.
“In the early thirties, things began to happen in the world – fascism – and it was being instilled in Italy and Germany and the rest of the countries were beginning to follow. Certain elements in society thought that Hitler was the man to solve the problems in Germany, and the German legations – the Nazi legations. There were literally nests of Nazi activity across the world. There were legations in Canada, in Montreal and Toronto and Calgary too. They were all active.
I spent one winter in Montreal, and in Toronto, I joined an organization of people who were well aware of the trends towards fascism. It was called the League Against War and Fascism. It was a left wing organization made up of socialists and communists. The general philosophy of the organization was that everybody should join in, socialists, communists, church people...We had many church people in the League, particularly the United Church. The United Church gave good support to the organization. We had some great meetings. I remember one of the meetings was in Montreal and was in protest of Canadian participation in the 1936 Olympics which were to be held in Berlin. We contended that the Olympic ideal – free sports – competitive sports for all people should not be held in a fascist country because the fascists had a racial and discrimination belief. We contended that it had nothing to do with the Olympic ideal which was for free sports, for all types of people, for all types of competitors. And therefore we protested against holding the Olympics in 1936 which was the following year in Berlin.”
This protest took place in the Montreal Forum in 1935 during a Montreal Canadiens’ or perhaps a Montreal Maroons hockey game. The plan was that after the first period, leaflets would be fanned out over the stands by members strategically placed around the top of the stadium. Then, at the second period, girls (as Dad called them) were to come out onto the ice with a 40 foot banner that read “No Canadian Participation in the Berlin Olympics”. Apparently, when the time came and with the arena packed to capacity, the girls backed out, so Dad and another man headed out onto the ice with the banner.
First, I’m assuming hockey and politics were not an ideal mix. Dad and his colleague quickly found themselves rushed by a mob trying to tear the banner down. Also, at that time, a pro-Hitler anti-Semitic organization known as the National Unity Party had established roots in Quebec and Dad always maintained that once on the ice, the mob turned its focus to his partner who was Jewish. Luckily, enveloped in a cloud of steam, the two of them escaped out an emergency exit into a -40 below Montreal night. Nevertheless, Dad remembered this as a very effective demonstration.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Chapter 18 - Between Toronto and Montreal
I’m sorry to say that September 1934 was the last of Dad’s letters that I have. I was fortunate to get copies of them from my sister Joanne, by way of my dad’s brother Kenny, found when their mother’s house was being packed up in Scotland some years ago.
It seems that between the fall of 1934 and into 1936, Dad commuted between Toronto and Montreal. This business card indicates that he represented the Club Film Service in Toronto, although I’ve been unable to find out anything about this business.
I believe it was also in Toronto where he met and became good friends with Binky Marks. When reminiscing about Binky, I always remember Dad telling me that he and Binky were eventually “thrown out” of the CCF because their views were too radical.
With the escalating trend toward fascism and world war ever present, one of the organizations Dad took an active role in was the The League Against War and Fascism which later became the Canadian League for Peace and Democracy. According to my research the CLAWF was founded in Montreal in the fall of 1934.
On June 3rd, 1935, the On to Ottawa Trek began in Vancouver drawing significant national attention to the terrible conditions in the relief camps. It was an action that had a great deal of support and was even credited with helping to defeat the Conservative government headed by R. B. Bennett. Although not directly involved, Dad certainly was behind the Trek in spirit and often talked about what a great campaign it was.
In 1988, my friend Marilyn Jensen conducted an extensive taped interview with Arnold about his activist days. He was 85 at the time. Thanks to her transcript, we are fortunate again have Dad’s own words to describe some of the events that occurred from 1934 into the war years.
It seems that between the fall of 1934 and into 1936, Dad commuted between Toronto and Montreal. This business card indicates that he represented the Club Film Service in Toronto, although I’ve been unable to find out anything about this business.
I believe it was also in Toronto where he met and became good friends with Binky Marks. When reminiscing about Binky, I always remember Dad telling me that he and Binky were eventually “thrown out” of the CCF because their views were too radical.
With the escalating trend toward fascism and world war ever present, one of the organizations Dad took an active role in was the The League Against War and Fascism which later became the Canadian League for Peace and Democracy. According to my research the CLAWF was founded in Montreal in the fall of 1934.
On June 3rd, 1935, the On to Ottawa Trek began in Vancouver drawing significant national attention to the terrible conditions in the relief camps. It was an action that had a great deal of support and was even credited with helping to defeat the Conservative government headed by R. B. Bennett. Although not directly involved, Dad certainly was behind the Trek in spirit and often talked about what a great campaign it was.
In 1988, my friend Marilyn Jensen conducted an extensive taped interview with Arnold about his activist days. He was 85 at the time. Thanks to her transcript, we are fortunate again have Dad’s own words to describe some of the events that occurred from 1934 into the war years.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Chapter 17 - Pigs and the NRA
As mentioned in the last post, Dad was writing articles for what he referred to as the “radical press”. Unfortunately, I don’t know what papers they were. This article, entitled Pigs and the NRA refers not to the National Rifle Association but to the National Recovery Administration which was established in the United States in 1933 to assist in the recovery of the American economy through various controls on industry, production, trade and labour. The Wikipedia article on the NRA notes: "The NRA was based on the premise that the Great Depression was caused by market instability and that government intervention was necessary to balance the interests of farmers, business and labor."
"As one of the many millions of unfortunates on this continent who have put into Mother Earth a great deal more than they have been able to take out, at this time, when all is lost and nothing matters, my fancy lightly turns to the pastime that has replaced cross-word puzzles – the contemplation of controlled production.
There must be logic in the situation of people starving. The Spectre of Plenty will be removed by various forms of controlled production, enabling the people to hunger more comfortably in an atmosphere of synthetic scarcity. The idea is great, and, indeed its application promises to open up unaddressed avenues of endeavour.
For instance, some farmers in the United States have received cheques from the Government for not raising pigs. One farmer has received a cheque for $1000.00 for not raising 500 pigs. After some figuring, I find that this is exactly $2.00 per hypothetical pig, and I am filled with the urge of again entering the agricultural field. I have visions of a nice dignified business being worked up along the lines of not raising pigs. In this connection, I would advise the establishment of a number of agricultural colleges, as this new branch of farming would call for considerable specialization. Not only should one know what kind of farm would be best adapted for not raising hogs, but he should also know what strain of hogs are best suited to not being raised, and much study could be given to ways and means of keeping an inventory of hogs that are not being raised. Feeding charts outlining the best kinds of feeds that should not be fed to hogs that are not being raised could also be formulated.
While the farmer mentioned above only collected for 500 hogs that had not been raised, it takes no stretch of imagination to see that this output or intake could be greatly increased. In fact, I can, in my usual optimistic way, even see myself capable, after the necessary training, of not raising several thousand pigs. It is easily seen that this is one of the fairest methods of controlled production, as it gives to the more imaginative farmer, who has been looked upon as an impractical visionary in the past, the opportunity to attain his proper place in agrarian society.
Presently I shall devote my attention to the floating of a Non-Hog-Raising Gold Bond for the purpose of aiding farmers to embrace this great new venture. I wonder if that man out west, to who I gave my farm, would sell it back to me? I wonder?"
While I was growing up, my father often reminded me that one of the main hurdles I would come up against time and time again in life was stupidity. In particular, he referred the stupidity of bureaucracy and this article certainly speaks to that.
Pigs and the NRA
"As one of the many millions of unfortunates on this continent who have put into Mother Earth a great deal more than they have been able to take out, at this time, when all is lost and nothing matters, my fancy lightly turns to the pastime that has replaced cross-word puzzles – the contemplation of controlled production.
There must be logic in the situation of people starving. The Spectre of Plenty will be removed by various forms of controlled production, enabling the people to hunger more comfortably in an atmosphere of synthetic scarcity. The idea is great, and, indeed its application promises to open up unaddressed avenues of endeavour.
For instance, some farmers in the United States have received cheques from the Government for not raising pigs. One farmer has received a cheque for $1000.00 for not raising 500 pigs. After some figuring, I find that this is exactly $2.00 per hypothetical pig, and I am filled with the urge of again entering the agricultural field. I have visions of a nice dignified business being worked up along the lines of not raising pigs. In this connection, I would advise the establishment of a number of agricultural colleges, as this new branch of farming would call for considerable specialization. Not only should one know what kind of farm would be best adapted for not raising hogs, but he should also know what strain of hogs are best suited to not being raised, and much study could be given to ways and means of keeping an inventory of hogs that are not being raised. Feeding charts outlining the best kinds of feeds that should not be fed to hogs that are not being raised could also be formulated.
While the farmer mentioned above only collected for 500 hogs that had not been raised, it takes no stretch of imagination to see that this output or intake could be greatly increased. In fact, I can, in my usual optimistic way, even see myself capable, after the necessary training, of not raising several thousand pigs. It is easily seen that this is one of the fairest methods of controlled production, as it gives to the more imaginative farmer, who has been looked upon as an impractical visionary in the past, the opportunity to attain his proper place in agrarian society.
Presently I shall devote my attention to the floating of a Non-Hog-Raising Gold Bond for the purpose of aiding farmers to embrace this great new venture. I wonder if that man out west, to who I gave my farm, would sell it back to me? I wonder?"
While I was growing up, my father often reminded me that one of the main hurdles I would come up against time and time again in life was stupidity. In particular, he referred the stupidity of bureaucracy and this article certainly speaks to that.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Chapter 16 - Domicile Rights
Continuing with the September 11, 1934 letter from Toronto:
“I have been writing some short articles for the radical press, which might be acceptable to one of the home papers as from an American correspondent. If you can you it, do so.
As I did not have the opportunity of having any lengthy conversation with you in Winnipeg, there are phases of possible future occurrences that I think you ought to be made aware of. As you know, my entry into Canada (from California to BC) was considered by the Canadian Immigration Department to be an illegal entry. It was legalized on the provisional grounds that I show proof of having taken land in Canada and provide a guarantee that I would not become a public charge during the period required to obtain domicile rights (5 years I think). At that time I was in the position to give such a guarantee.
Now, if I should be unable to procure work here, and, like a million others, be forced to seek government relief, there is every likelihood that my entry would be referred to and that an order would be sought for my deportation. This is a regular procedure in the case of aliens who have not resided here five years. The question here arises whether or not it would embarrass you to have me arrive in Glasgow as a deportee. I can assure you that it would not embarrass me in the least, but that the bringing of you into the picture would cause me some discomfort. As your name is recorded on my passport and at the BC port of entry, it is inevitable that, in this eventuality, your name would be brought into the case.” (By now, Arnold’s father had been knighted for his musical achievements as conductor of the Glasgow Orpheus Choir in Scotland and Sir Hugh Roberton was a very well known and respected in the UK, if not worldwide.)
“I have been writing some short articles for the radical press, which might be acceptable to one of the home papers as from an American correspondent. If you can you it, do so.
As I did not have the opportunity of having any lengthy conversation with you in Winnipeg, there are phases of possible future occurrences that I think you ought to be made aware of. As you know, my entry into Canada (from California to BC) was considered by the Canadian Immigration Department to be an illegal entry. It was legalized on the provisional grounds that I show proof of having taken land in Canada and provide a guarantee that I would not become a public charge during the period required to obtain domicile rights (5 years I think). At that time I was in the position to give such a guarantee.
Now, if I should be unable to procure work here, and, like a million others, be forced to seek government relief, there is every likelihood that my entry would be referred to and that an order would be sought for my deportation. This is a regular procedure in the case of aliens who have not resided here five years. The question here arises whether or not it would embarrass you to have me arrive in Glasgow as a deportee. I can assure you that it would not embarrass me in the least, but that the bringing of you into the picture would cause me some discomfort. As your name is recorded on my passport and at the BC port of entry, it is inevitable that, in this eventuality, your name would be brought into the case.” (By now, Arnold’s father had been knighted for his musical achievements as conductor of the Glasgow Orpheus Choir in Scotland and Sir Hugh Roberton was a very well known and respected in the UK, if not worldwide.)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Chapter 15 - Toronto
By September 11, 1934, Dad’s address was a box number in Toronto. It also seems by that time, Joan had gone to stay with her grandparents, Hugh & Helen Roberton in Scotland. Here, Dad writes to his father:
“Replying to your letter received, after much delay, in Chicago” (where Dad’s sister Mamie and her husband lived) “I want to thank you for telling me about m
y wee girl’s anxiety that I should immediately make the acquaintance of Rex. Doggies have been an important factor in Joan’s life and perhaps her determination or fixity of purpose has, in part, been copied from the doggies of her acquaintance. Doggies are very persistent.
As you will see, I am now in Toronto, where I am making one more bid for the right to live before taking my place in what R. B. Bennett refers to as ‘the derelicts’. I have even stooped so low as to write to George Mathieson to see if he is in the position to arrange for me an introduction to the Eaton or Simpson companies here.
My visit to Chicago was a very enjoyable one from the point of my association with Mamie’s wee family, but I found a different Chicago from that of eight years ago. Citizenship is now a required factor in seeking employment and in other ways America has followed the Nationalistic tendencies evident in countries that are faced with economic panic. Despite the injection of alcohol into that country’s economic system, the fatty degeneration of the heart of its Capitalism continues.
And the same thing is evident here, of course. Some of the big firms are prohibiting their employees from entering any political organization, and every effort is being made to establish company unions instead of the trade unions. Both of these measures are the foreshadow of Fascism, now the only ism that can prolong Capitalism: and Fascism is the future refusing to be born.
My health has received a set-back since coming here, and I am having some trouble with a hernia that was originally caused, and is now aggravated, by coughing. So I find myself again living on ephedrine.”
“Replying to your letter received, after much delay, in Chicago” (where Dad’s sister Mamie and her husband lived) “I want to thank you for telling me about m
y wee girl’s anxiety that I should immediately make the acquaintance of Rex. Doggies have been an important factor in Joan’s life and perhaps her determination or fixity of purpose has, in part, been copied from the doggies of her acquaintance. Doggies are very persistent. As you will see, I am now in Toronto, where I am making one more bid for the right to live before taking my place in what R. B. Bennett refers to as ‘the derelicts’. I have even stooped so low as to write to George Mathieson to see if he is in the position to arrange for me an introduction to the Eaton or Simpson companies here.
My visit to Chicago was a very enjoyable one from the point of my association with Mamie’s wee family, but I found a different Chicago from that of eight years ago. Citizenship is now a required factor in seeking employment and in other ways America has followed the Nationalistic tendencies evident in countries that are faced with economic panic. Despite the injection of alcohol into that country’s economic system, the fatty degeneration of the heart of its Capitalism continues.
And the same thing is evident here, of course. Some of the big firms are prohibiting their employees from entering any political organization, and every effort is being made to establish company unions instead of the trade unions. Both of these measures are the foreshadow of Fascism, now the only ism that can prolong Capitalism: and Fascism is the future refusing to be born.
My health has received a set-back since coming here, and I am having some trouble with a hernia that was originally caused, and is now aggravated, by coughing. So I find myself again living on ephedrine.”
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Chapter 14 - Dilemma
“Thanks for your letter which came as negotiations were underway for an exchange of this property for a property in Calgary, the title of which will go to Mrs. Pomeroy as coverage for her investment here. The Calgary place is rented an I am hoping that it will stay rented so that Mrs. Pomeroy can in a measure be repaid for the trouble and expense that here partnership here has incurred. In the meantime, since Mrs. Pomeroy’s return from California, we have been busily engaged with the disposal and packing of household goods and effects, and at the time of writing, we are all ready to move out.
My movements from the date hereof are very uncertain, chiefly because of the complication presented by the necessity having Joan to look after, and secondly because of the fact that, after settling obligations, little or nothing will be left to move on with. If alone I would probably try to get into one of the government relief camps in another Province until I had gathered my wits sufficiently to make some definite move, although such a step might not be so simple on account of my poor physical condition.”
I was surprised to read this, as it always seemed to me that Dad hated the concept of the relief camps, seeing them not only as a source of almost slave labour but also as a strategy to disenfranchise men by having them away from their home electoral ridings and unable to cast their votes. One of the actions he talked about taking part in was organizing truck convoys to go out to the relief camps in order to bring men back to their ridings at election time.
“Your letter was kind and encouraging, and I can readily see that with Joan’s happiness in mind and welfare at stake, the most practical move would be homeward, but there still remains a reluctance to accept defeat – even at the hands of my twin foes, and there still lingers the idea that, given the opportunity of re-entering the States, I might be able to struggle along. This letter is chiefly to thank you, and notify you that my address is no longer Hatzig. For the time being General Delivery, Vancouver will get me, and unless I make a sudden desperate dive over the line, I will keep you posted as to my movements.”
Added note: Once again, I would like to thank local BC historian and writer Daphne Sleigh for forwarding this article from the Fraser Valley Record dated Thursday, March 29, 1934:
My movements from the date hereof are very uncertain, chiefly because of the complication presented by the necessity having Joan to look after, and secondly because of the fact that, after settling obligations, little or nothing will be left to move on with. If alone I would probably try to get into one of the government relief camps in another Province until I had gathered my wits sufficiently to make some definite move, although such a step might not be so simple on account of my poor physical condition.”
I was surprised to read this, as it always seemed to me that Dad hated the concept of the relief camps, seeing them not only as a source of almost slave labour but also as a strategy to disenfranchise men by having them away from their home electoral ridings and unable to cast their votes. One of the actions he talked about taking part in was organizing truck convoys to go out to the relief camps in order to bring men back to their ridings at election time.
“Your letter was kind and encouraging, and I can readily see that with Joan’s happiness in mind and welfare at stake, the most practical move would be homeward, but there still remains a reluctance to accept defeat – even at the hands of my twin foes, and there still lingers the idea that, given the opportunity of re-entering the States, I might be able to struggle along. This letter is chiefly to thank you, and notify you that my address is no longer Hatzig. For the time being General Delivery, Vancouver will get me, and unless I make a sudden desperate dive over the line, I will keep you posted as to my movements.”
Added note: Once again, I would like to thank local BC historian and writer Daphne Sleigh for forwarding this article from the Fraser Valley Record dated Thursday, March 29, 1934:
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Chapter 13 - Depressions and Decisions
Sept 21, 1933. It seems that Hugh and Helen Roberton in Scotland had become concerned enough about Arnold and Joan’s situation that they sent a telegram proposing to have Joan come to live with them. Here is Dad's reply:
“Thank-you for your cabled offer to relieve me of the responsibility of looking after Joan under difficulties. At the present time the wee lassie’s future is a bit uncertain as indeed are the futures of so many millions of other little ones whose parents, while sound in body are still deprived of the means of life by a vicious society. After all these years of struggling with the twin Frankensteins, ill-health and economic instability, I carry a particular hatred for the society that makes ill-health an individual catastrophe instead of a social misfortune, and I find difficulty in keeping this hatred from extending to all those who are tolerant of such a system.
At present, it is uncertain how long I will be able to remain here, since it is impossible for me to meet the obligations of the partnership, either in the matter of further financing or the contribution of labour. It is my hope that, when I do leave, I will be able to realize enough out of the disposal of my few personal effects to make some arrangements about Joan.”
January 27, 1934:
“As I write this it is late afternoon, and I am seated on the front veranda enjoying the first consistent sunshine of the year. The river below is placid. Beyond, the lower part of the mountain is scarved in an opalescent ground-mist, while to the east the Cheam Peaks, grand in their robes of white, extend into an azure sky that is ever so lightly traced with ‘Sands of Dee’ pattern of fine white clouds. Not even the “Queen’s View” could beat this panoramic eye-feast that spreads before us. Thousands of acres of farm-lands extending to the south west. A mountain that seems to come near enough to cast a stone at on clear days directly south. And to the east again farm lands extending to the peaks mentioned, some thirty-five miles away. And the river – always the river.
During the past two weeks I have been laid up intermittently, with persistently recurring fevers and an unusual swelling on the neck adding to my troubles. As Mrs. Pomeroy has been in California for some time, it has been largely a matter of turning Joan over to George, who is the ‘factotum’ around here. George is ‘easy’ and Joan knows it, so frequently the recalcitrant Joan has been led before me for parental guidance. On the whole, however, she is
anything but a troublesome child, being content to amuse herself all day long with little supervision. Needless to say, we are great friends – so much so that we call each other by our first names. Nor do I frown when she occasionally calls me a stupid boy, but make allowance for the possibility of her being right. I had a fair vision of my being able to bring Joan up in a thoroughly un-orthodox way, devoid of the awe and majesty attributes required by parents hitherto, but the uncertainty of the future clouds my vision in this and other respects.
It is quite evident that it would be unwise for me to stay in this Province any longer than possible disposal arrangements would necessitate, as my physical condition was never so low....the two most sensible places for a man in my situation to go would be home or Russia – with a possible third if one had the guts. Nevertheless there is the mental urge onward, accompanied by a normal antipathy towards retrogression; onward to where and to what? Perhaps to a more devastating defeat that ever as (once again) an illegal entrant to a better clime. Well, except for the subsequent detention period and deportation proceedings, what of it? If one becomes a public charge in this fair country prior to the completion of his five years of domicile the same deportation procedure awaits him..
There is a bare possibility that I could find something to do in the high plateau regions of central or southern USA, where (once there) immigration surveillance would not be too aggressive. If so, the chance of my recuperation would be appreciably greater than it would be in Scotland of elsewhere. Therefore I am harbouring the thought of again looking for a hole in a hypothetical three-thousand-mile fence.”
Copying these passages where Dad’s spirit appears to hit an all time low, it occurs to me that he very likely also suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) where lack of sunlight alters mood and causes mental depression. The West Coast was probably the last place he should have been living, especially since the damp winters would certainly have aggravated his asthma and lung condition. By April of 1934, his life in the Fraser Valley was about to change.
“Thank-you for your cabled offer to relieve me of the responsibility of looking after Joan under difficulties. At the present time the wee lassie’s future is a bit uncertain as indeed are the futures of so many millions of other little ones whose parents, while sound in body are still deprived of the means of life by a vicious society. After all these years of struggling with the twin Frankensteins, ill-health and economic instability, I carry a particular hatred for the society that makes ill-health an individual catastrophe instead of a social misfortune, and I find difficulty in keeping this hatred from extending to all those who are tolerant of such a system.
At present, it is uncertain how long I will be able to remain here, since it is impossible for me to meet the obligations of the partnership, either in the matter of further financing or the contribution of labour. It is my hope that, when I do leave, I will be able to realize enough out of the disposal of my few personal effects to make some arrangements about Joan.”
January 27, 1934:
“As I write this it is late afternoon, and I am seated on the front veranda enjoying the first consistent sunshine of the year. The river below is placid. Beyond, the lower part of the mountain is scarved in an opalescent ground-mist, while to the east the Cheam Peaks, grand in their robes of white, extend into an azure sky that is ever so lightly traced with ‘Sands of Dee’ pattern of fine white clouds. Not even the “Queen’s View” could beat this panoramic eye-feast that spreads before us. Thousands of acres of farm-lands extending to the south west. A mountain that seems to come near enough to cast a stone at on clear days directly south. And to the east again farm lands extending to the peaks mentioned, some thirty-five miles away. And the river – always the river.
During the past two weeks I have been laid up intermittently, with persistently recurring fevers and an unusual swelling on the neck adding to my troubles. As Mrs. Pomeroy has been in California for some time, it has been largely a matter of turning Joan over to George, who is the ‘factotum’ around here. George is ‘easy’ and Joan knows it, so frequently the recalcitrant Joan has been led before me for parental guidance. On the whole, however, she is
anything but a troublesome child, being content to amuse herself all day long with little supervision. Needless to say, we are great friends – so much so that we call each other by our first names. Nor do I frown when she occasionally calls me a stupid boy, but make allowance for the possibility of her being right. I had a fair vision of my being able to bring Joan up in a thoroughly un-orthodox way, devoid of the awe and majesty attributes required by parents hitherto, but the uncertainty of the future clouds my vision in this and other respects.It is quite evident that it would be unwise for me to stay in this Province any longer than possible disposal arrangements would necessitate, as my physical condition was never so low....the two most sensible places for a man in my situation to go would be home or Russia – with a possible third if one had the guts. Nevertheless there is the mental urge onward, accompanied by a normal antipathy towards retrogression; onward to where and to what? Perhaps to a more devastating defeat that ever as (once again) an illegal entrant to a better clime. Well, except for the subsequent detention period and deportation proceedings, what of it? If one becomes a public charge in this fair country prior to the completion of his five years of domicile the same deportation procedure awaits him..
There is a bare possibility that I could find something to do in the high plateau regions of central or southern USA, where (once there) immigration surveillance would not be too aggressive. If so, the chance of my recuperation would be appreciably greater than it would be in Scotland of elsewhere. Therefore I am harbouring the thought of again looking for a hole in a hypothetical three-thousand-mile fence.”
Copying these passages where Dad’s spirit appears to hit an all time low, it occurs to me that he very likely also suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) where lack of sunlight alters mood and causes mental depression. The West Coast was probably the last place he should have been living, especially since the damp winters would certainly have aggravated his asthma and lung condition. By April of 1934, his life in the Fraser Valley was about to change.
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