“On Working-Class Opposition to Conscription. 1917” in “Class Warrior”
On Working-Class Opposition to Conscription 1917
Report from an earlier anti-conscription meeting where Kingsley appeared as the keynote speaker, convened under the auspices of the British Columbia Federation of Labor and the Vancouver Trades and Labor Council in Vancouver’s Avenue Theatre on 4 June 1917.
Organized Labor Pulls Off Big Meeting
Theatre Packed to the Doors by Citizens Opposed to Militarism. The Only Interrupters Were Two Soldiers and a Few “Ladies.”
Orderly throughout, the meeting held under the auspices of the Vancouver Trades and Labor Council and the B. C. Federation of Labor, in the Avenue theatre, Monday evening, for the purpose of opposing the proposed conscription measure, was one which redounds to the credit of organized labor and incidentally puts a crimp in the city fathers’ idea that Labor cannot meet and discuss such a momentous question as that which was before the audience in the Avenue without the roughneck element creeping in to disturb the peace.
Then the speaker of the evening, E. T. Kingsley, took the floor, and delivered a splendid address, and one which drove home facts to the mind of the folks in front of the footlights.
“Conscription,” said he, “had to stand on its merits, for there was never a cause in the world which was worthy of support but could so stand, and that which feared discussion, feared the truth. This cause cannot be bolstered up by vilification or abuse, and if there is nothing better to offer than the cry of pro-German at those who oppose it, then it is a weak cause and must fall by virtue of its weakness.”
“There never was a despotism yet fastened upon a people by virtue of anything which could appeal to their reason; it always had to be put over by brute force.”
“Our ancestors were opposed to the brutal despotism of Europe; they left there to escape it,” said he, “and to enjoy some semblance of democracy; then shall we sacrifice that for which they suffered at the whim of the ruling class?”
Continuing, the speaker said the workers were not opposed to the war going through to its ultimate end. It was something which had to come as the logical result of certain causes.
The Rise of Democracy
He then traced the period of evolution from the earliest days of the dawn of democracy to the present, dealing with the French revolution, when the autocracy and unbridled despotism of the nobility and the church were broken and the people took to themselves a modicum of democracy and set up a government in which they could participate.
Britain, by a gradual process, followed, and arrived at a similar result, and today British monarchy had lost all brutal and despotic powers, the king being only in authority granted from day to day through the parliament.
Autocracy ln Danger
Speaking of Germany, Mr. Kingsley said that in that empire, the parliament could not declare war or arrange peace, the kaiser being absolute, the country being under the rule of military autocracy.
Because the German empire and Austria saw that the democracy of France and Britain threatened their very existence and because of the democracy of the United States and the fact that Italy was a constitutional state, they realized that it was absolutely necessary for them to go to war in defence of their autocracy.
Personally, he was bitterly opposed to the prolongation of German autocratic rule, and he believed that every working man must find his sympathies alongside of the Allies in the fight against the autocratic rule of Germany.
“Anyone who tries to fasten the yoke of autocracy on the necks of the people of Canada is most distinctly pro-German,” declared the speaker, who went on to say that the citizens were entitled to look with suspicion on any military establishment, for it was autocratic in its ultimate [missing word] as militarism was a complete denial of democracy.
“We are opposed to the introduction of the military system in Canada,” he said, and the audience were with him to the echo.
“We have nothing but admiration for those men who have gone to the front of their own free will to do battle for their country, no matter what their country may be, but we have none for the man in an official position who, well, let me tell you of a type.
“Slackers”
“I won’t mention any names, but there is a certain public official in the city who presided over a conscription meeting held in Vancouver. I have no doubt he spoke eloquently at that meeting. He is a man in the prime of life, of military age and physically fit, and yet he has not offered himself for service for his country and his king. I don’t like this particular type. It’s like snakes. I don’t pick out any particular snake, but I don’t like the type in general.
“Another man, who sits in an editorial chair, of a weekly paper, I may say in both senses, who stands, I understand, six feet high, and is said to be one of the finest specimens of physical manhood one could wish to find, an all round athlete and a person who should be able to throw a bomb a mile; he also has not yet offered himself, yet these people would force others to go. These men who are so glib in advocating that the chains of military servitude should be rivetted on the limbs of other people, should go first to show an example to others, rather than sit back and yell ‘slackers and traitor.’
Democracy’s Deathknell
“The inauguration of conscription in Canada would sound the deathknell of Canadian democracy, for the conscript is not a free man, and is not the possessor of democratic privileges.”
Said Mr. Kingsley: “I am sorry to see that it has gone through in the U.S., for it means the thin end of the wedge which will take away from them the sacred rights of citizenship.
The government in Canada has no mandate calling upon it to declare a conscription measure, and has only the legal right to go to the country for re-election or defeat.”
The “Overwhelming Demand”
“From whom do we hear the overwhelming demand for conscription?” asked he. “From the boards of trade, the chambers of commerce and the ministerial association and those who are always going to uplift the poor and raise them to the millenium [sic] of wealth.
“The boards of trade, etc., are composed of persons who are trading in the wealth the working class has produced and been swindled out of, and naturally those bodies wish to keep the workers in subjection.
“All the glory won at the war will not feed the returned soldier after the fight is done.
A Comparison of Strength
“The working class has ever had to pay the bill, and so long as they have some slight degree of democracy left to them, they should struggle to preserve it, even if they have to go as far as the Russian brothers went, kicking the whole profit-mongering class off their backs and taking possession of the entire earth.”
The speaker then pointed out that Petrograd was said to be experiencing a reign of terror, because the clerks there had applied for a raise of 100 per cent. on their wages, after which he took the figures given by eminent authorities as to the number of available men at present on the battle fronts and showed that there were at least 85 millions of British and French, as opposed to 65 millions of Germans, and asked his hearers if they did not believe the British and French were more than equal man for man to the Teutons, in which case, where was the necessity for the conscription measure which the government was trying to put over?
There was no logical reason, he contended, why one more man should go from Canada to Europe to fight in this war.
“I don’t know what scheme is behind this conscription business,” he said, “but I have faith enough in those who are at the front to believe that they will clean up that German bunch, but what is needed is food and steel.”
No Absolutism Wanted
“The present system in Canada,” continued he, “is so much better than that of military absolutism, that it is up to the citizens to see to it that no jot or tittle of it gets away from them.”
“Now, as to going to the front,” said the speaker, “I want to say that I would not advise a man to either go or stay away. I have never advised a man to do a thing I cannot do myself, and in that I differ from, well, say, the mayor of the city of Vancouver.
“I would not put the yoke of conscription on any man’s neck, and by the eternal, I’ll bawl my head off before they shall put it on mine.
“I would not, however, prohibit the holding of a public meeting by those who favor conscription, for I maintain that every cause demands a hearing.
Why Rulers Rule
“There never was a ruler on earth, or a ruling class, that did not rule for one specific purpose, that he or it might rob. I am not in favor of taking up arms to support that class, for I believe there is only one fight which is justifiable, and that is when the common people take up arms to fight for their liberties and freedom against the capitalist system.
“When I look at these sugar lords and bloated capitalists, I feel like swatting, not them, but the system which allows them to fatten on the juice of the poor working plug’s bones. And the capitalist hogs talk patriotism. It is a wonder they do not choke. Believe me, my friends, he who loves his country is he who loves the people of that country. He who is a patriot is ready to fight for the people of his class, and the kind of patriot who fattens on war profits is of no use to any one.”
When Labor Is Alive
The speaker commented on the attempts made in Australia to bring in conscription, and said they were doomed to failure, following this by an allusion to the tactics employed by the Welsh coal miners in their strike at the beginning of the war, tactics which, if employed by the workers of Great Britain as a whole, would have compelled the government to take over all industries.
He pointed to the fact that industries were being shut down because the Alberta and Crows Nest mines were closed, and remarked that the prairie people would have to suffer from lack of fuel in addition to the loss of work occasioned by the shutdown. Yet the government would conscript the workers.
Are Getting the Money
“If it were a case where the life of the nation was at stake, then I,” said the speaker, “would say it was wisdom on the part of the government to take the strongest measures, but here is the case in a nutshell. The capitalists are getting more money out of the war than out of peace, therefore they are in favor of war without end, for that means that their profits will continue.”
As to the treatment of the men after peace is declared, Mr. Kingsley pointed out that the great majority of the countries were at present on the verge of bankruptcy, and no matter what good intentions the governments may have towards the men, they would be powerless to keep their pledges, for there would be no question of indemnities when this fight was done, as no country would have the means with which to pay.
Sooner or later the war must end, as Russia was ready for peace with no annexation of territory and no indemnity, and the man power and power to pay was being fast exhausted, which made it utter nonsense to dream of collecting indemnities from nations which were busted.
Within a year a demand would come from the belligerents that the war end on the terms put down by the Russians, and when the kaiser had to go back to his people with his wonderful lies of victories, despotism would last no longer than the fabled snowball in the nether regions. Then there would be a chance for that goodwill and peace on earth which might have a lasting quality.
The Two Slaves
“When democracy has swept despotism away,” said he, “the doom of war will be sealed and we shall hear no more of these world struggles. The soldier came upon the stage of human events alongside of the slave; they have travelled together all through the play, and they will go out together. The presence of the slave made it imperative that the soldier should be on the scene to hold him to his job.
“The military autocracy is bad for the German people, and it would be bad for the Canadians; therefore I say, if we relinquish one iota of the freedom won by our ancestors, we are foolish and deserve all we get.
“In conclusion, let me say that the journey from the old days of the press gang, when the men were compelled to fight, to the present democracy, has been a long and hard struggle, but it is a short one back from conscription to the press gang in all its pristine beauty; therefore be advised by me, don’t take it.”
Amid prolonged cheering, the veteran speaker took his seat, after which Chairman McVety asked for a show of hands from those opposed to conscription, which resulted in at least 95 per cent. putting up their hands, the call for the conscriptionists showing that if there were many at the opening of the meeting, the arguments put forward had proved conclusive so far as they were concerned.
The thanks of those responsible for the gathering was tendered to the audience for showing the city council that an orderly meeting could be held on the subject of conscription, and the gathering dispersed, a few ladies at the rear singing the national anthem as the balance filed out. Some slight interruption to the clearing of the theatre occurred when one of the ladies took exception to being asked to sing “God Save the People,” but this was merely a side issue.
A collection of $49.80 was given by those present toward defraying the expenses of the meeting.
—“Organized Labor Pulls Off Big Meeting,” British Columbia Federationist, 8 June 1917, 8. See also “Bloated War Barons Scored,” Vancouver World, 5 June 1917, 16.
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