#a. e. smith

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"Another well-received speaker during the early months of 1925 was A.E. Smith. His presentations as head of the Ontario section of the Canadian Labour Party (CLP) at the Wobbly-controlled Port Arthur Labour Temple, the Orpheum theatre in Fort William, and the Fort William Auditorium focused on unemployment associations and the progress made “in forming educational classes in the East.” They were well attended. Once again, Fred Moore chaired the Fort William meetings. He used them to convince those in attendance that “the radical labour movements were converging towards ‘the day’ when a social revolution would bring about a complete change in system.” The main duty of a labour representative in Parliament, he contended, “should be to weaken, hamper and embarrass the bourgeois parliament.” The process of social revolution, described as a “grim business,” was but a “natural evolution.”

...

The activities of organizers from both the IWW [Industrial Workers of the World] and the CPC [Communist Party of Canada] caught the attention of regional politicians and traditional labour leaders, who began to voice their opposition to immigration and the flood of radical workers into the country. Not all of the attention was negative. The recent success of the Communists, for example, caught the attention of Peter Heenan, the Kenora Labour member of the provincial parliament (MPP) who had been elected in 1919 and again in 1923. Sensing a shift in provincial politics, he sought to tap into the CPC’s growing support despite having recently accepted nomination from the Liberal party. He was refused a meeting. Sensing an opportunity of its own, the CPC parachuted party stalwart A.E. Smith into Port Arthur to run in the riding of Port Arthur-Thunder Bay during the 1925 federal election. Smith and the CPC’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) chose the riding because both felt that the support from the Finnish lumber workers might well carry the day. His candidacy also received the support of the local Canadian Labour Party (no surprise, as Smith was president of the Ontario section) and from Alex Gibson and the Port Arthur Trades and Labour Council. Once more, Smith’s candidacy would reveal the mileage that the Lakehead left could get by attempting to occupy at least some of the political space normally occupied by the centrists.

Much of Smith’s platform reiterated the speeches he had given in the region earlier in the year. Local newspapers described him as eloquent, with even normally skeptical journalists suggesting that “oratory like his had not flown from the tongue of any speaker on the platform in Port Arthur.” Moreover, his politics were clearly enunciated. At the Port Arthur Armoury, for example, he addressed the crowd of 2,000 directly as a “deliberative assembly, a parliament of the people, who are the first factor … in political power.” Smith did well, garnering 1,363 of a total 9,068 votes in perhaps the best showing of any federal Communist candidate in the 1920s. Even the Port Arthur News-Chronicle described the election as the “Most Vigorously Contested in the History of Port Arthur.”

The CPC considered Smith’s showing a clear indication of its growing stature in the region. As Anthony Rasporich’s work reveals, “near majorities were in fact recorded over the Conservative, Liberal, and independent candidates in the south end polls dominated by the Slavs and Finns, and in radical rural pockets of Finns to the north and west of Port Arthur.” It is revealing, however, that he won only three rural polls by narrow margins, and that the Finnish vote was split almost equally among all candidates."

- Michel S. Beaulieu, Labour at the Lakehead: Ethnicity, Socialism, and Politics, 1900-35. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2011. p. 113, 114-115.

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"SMITH'S BAIL $10,000 TRIAL OPENS FEB. 19," Toronto Star. February 2, 1934. Page 1. ---- Defence Protests Short Time Allowed Blind Man One of Bondsmen ---- Rev. A. E. Smith appeared before Mr. Justice Kingstone in assize court this morning and pleaded not guilty to the charge of using seditious language.

His counsel, Onie Brown, offered this plea on behalf of his client, but his lordship refused to accept the plea until he heard it from accused himself.

An adjournment for two months to enable him, to prepare his case was sought by Mr. Brown, but after emphatic objection by Peter White, K.C., on behalf of the crown, his lordship allowed two weeks, naming Monday, February 19, as the trial date.

Bail was set at $10,000, $5,000 of which was provided by the accused and $5,000 by John A. Murray, blind piano tuner, and Anthony Markus.

Mr. Brown told the court two weeks would not be sufficient to prepare his client's defence properly. He wished to get into touch with persons who were at the meeting in Hygeia Hall on the occasion, when the alleged sedition was spoken.

"If you can show good reason on Feb. 19, why you have not been able to get your defence ready, I have no doubt the presiding judge may grant a further stay," his lordship commented.

Mr. White: "I wish my learned friend to take fair warning now that I intend to proceed with this case on the date set."

"How do you plead?" His lordship asked Smith. "Not guilty, my lord," replied defence counsel.

"I would like the plea from the accused himself." remarked his lord- ship, Mr. Smith repeating his counsel's reply.

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"SENSATION CAUSED AS TIM BUCK EVIDENCE WAS REFUSED IN SEDITION TRIAL," Kingston Whig-Standard. March 7, 1934. Page 1. ---- One of the sensations of the trial of Rev. A. E. Smith at Toronto on a trial of seditious utterance was the exclusion of the evidence of Tim Buck, Communist leader, now serving a sentence in Kingston Penitentiary. Buck was brought to Toronto for the case and was placed on the witness stand for the defence. After he had answered one question in which he stated he was shot at in his cell in the Kingston prison his evidence was excluded after a lengthy battle between counsel and prosecution. The layout shows: Left, Tim Luck as he arrived at the court to appear for Smith; below, the jury being escorted from their hotel, where they have been locked up under guard: centre, C. J. Stokes, a witness for the defence, who was at the meeting wherein Smith is alleged to have uttered seditious words; centre (right) is Chief Justice Rose, while extreme right shows Rev. A. E. Smith appearing on the stand in his own defence,

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"Shots At Buck Blamed On Cabinet by 'Court'," Toronto Star. April 16, 1934. Page 3. --- 3,000 Cheer Finding Workers' Commission - Guthrie Invited, Absent ---- ASK PUBLIC INQUIRY ---- More than 3.000 men and women workers at a rally under the auspices of the A. E. Smith United Defence Conference, in Massey Hall last night endorsed with cheers and prolonged applause the finding of 41 delegates comprising a workers' commission, or court, to the effect that the Bennett government was responsible for "discrimination at Kingston penitentiary and for the alleged shooting at Tim Buck, strongest leader of labor in Canada, on October 20, 1932."

The meeting endorsed a suggestion that an open public inquiry be held and that the commission be composed of workers and representative classes.

The meeting was announced as "an open hearing on the shooting at Tim Buck", and an invitation was extended to Hon. Hugh Guthrie, minister of justice, to present the government's side. Mr. Guthrie was not present.

The finding of the workers' commission was based on evidence submitted by A. E. Smith, general secretary of the Canadian Labor Defence League and Thomas C. Sims, secretary of the national executive board of the Workers' Unity League together with third person statements of two former inmates of Kingston penitentiary. Fred Collins, labor organizer, acted as interrogator.

It was explained that one of the ex-prisoners who was to have spoken was unable to be present because "the police are still making his life miserable and he is afraid of further trouble." Both names were withheld for this reason.

None Stand for Anthem The meeting joined in a rousing singing of "The Internationale" at the conclusion. In accordance with hall regulations "God Save the King" was played as the meeting opened, although no one stood. Other recommendations, approved by the meeting, were: "Release of the seven labor leaders from Kingston penitentiary and of all other working class prisoners; repeal of section 98 of the Criminal Code: that all political prisoners be given political rights-the right to communicate with representatives of their own party: the immediate re- lease of Sam Car, on sick parole; that the Communist party be given legal status, and that an appeal be made to all workers to build a stronger united front."

The findings of the commission, endorsed by a unanimous vote of She meeting, read in part: "That all the evidence submitted here tonight proves that Tim Buck was deliberately shot at in Kingston penitentiary: that this shooting was not isolated from all the events that went before it; that it was not an accident but the culmination of what we charge was definite persecution against the working classes, which was clearly shown in the discrimination evidenced when brokers were sent to Collins' Bay, while the workers' leaders were confined in Kingston.

"We further contend that this discrimination is still going on and that one of the seven leaders (Sam Car) in Kingston is seriously ill approaching his death because this discrimination.

"The commission considers that Tim Buck was not responsible for the 1932 riots. We stress the fact that two judges and Frank Regan, Toronto lawyer, by their own statements, have substantiated evidence in regard to the alleged shooting.

Attack on Trade Unions "We feel that the federal government was responsible for the persecution of all working class leaders and also for the attempt to assassinate Tim Buck. We consider there was a deliberate attempt to destroy the strongest leader of the working classes in Canada. The case of Tim Buck is not simply an attack on the Communist party, but is an attack, through the Ontario Tory government, against the whole trade union movement in Canada and against the working classes in this country.

"We further find that Tim Buck and his comrades are not criminal and feel that it is necessary to assert definitely that the two hundred additional workers, who are fined in the jails of Canada, not criminals either. con- are In view of the smashing of the frame up against A. E. Smith, we propose that Tim Buck be placed before an inquiry to say definitely what happened at Kingston. We say the federal government should grant our request for an open inquiry into the attempted assassination of Tim Buck.

"The defence of the eight Communists was originally conducted by the Canadian Labor Defence League, recalled A. E. Smith. "The league has since conducted a steady campaign for the release of these men and for the repeal of section 98. "Frequent complaints have been made to our office by relatives of these men, that their treatment was very bad. The league has several times placed these complaints be- fore the federal government, as well as the alleged shooting of Tim Buck. Our petitions have been denied or disregarded.

Said Four Shots Fired Mr. Smith recalled that Buck had stated at the Murray Kirkland trial. August 1. last: "Four shots in were fired at me. One of these know came from a revolver, all I from a rifle. The revolver bullet one touched my hair. The rifle bullet came very close to me. I was locked in my cell at the time, making my bed." Buck had hesitated to say whether the shots were fired at him "deliberately."

"There are 76 cells in that block." Mr. Smith quoted Buck as having testified, "and nobody else was fired at. While I don't say they shot at me deliberately, yet they shot at me.' According to Mr. Smith, Buck said he thought the officers had designs on his life.

The speaker stated that, with a witness, he visited the office of Frank Regan. "Mr. Regan told me." he added, "that after the trial of one MacDonald in Kingston, Aug. 1, 1933, the judge had told him he had been very much moved. I would like to go and see the cell in which Buck says he was shot at. Mr. Regan said Judge Madden told him. Accordingly, the judge, Mr. Regan and Mr. Mackay inspected the cell.

"Mr. Regan told me he saw the bullet marks in the wall and he says Judge Madden gravely shook his head and uttered these words: 'There is no doubt about it they tried to murder this man'."

Collins: "What is the ultimate object of the Communist party?" Smith: "I am not authorized to answer that question officially, but here's my personal opinion: The Communist party seeks to establish Soviet government in Canada." Loud and prolonged applause). "When that is accomplished," continued Smith, "the progress of the country will be assured."

"We should place those guilty of the attempt before the bar of the Working class," declared Thomas C. Sims. The Workers' Unity League decided to throw its forces solidly be- hind Canadian Labor Defence League to expose the attempt on Buck's life, and to make such a united front that they would be scared to menace the lives of any of our workers. We have a legal right to organize the Communist party as the working class thinks fit.

"When we force the Bennett government and the ruling class to take their claws of A. E. Smith and Comrade Buck, the working class will have made a definite step forward."

Demand Inquiry While the commission was out Tom Scarlett addressed the meeting and then called on Mr. Smith. Before Mr. Smith commenced to speak a man who refused to give his name introduced a resolution which meeting endorsed unanimously. the It read in part: "That the government should be held responsible for the shooting and that a public inquiry be demanded into conditions at Kingston; that Buck and his comrades be released."

Mr. Smith criticized the C.C.F. "Mr. Gardiner says that if the C.C.F. gets control, they promise to buy the power. This is ridiculous. When the workers get control they will not buy the power. They will take possession of it and use it the way they want to. It is fraudulent for any person to claim that by any such expedient they can move the capitalist class out of its entrenched position.

"The next great conflict," he continued, "which will be the last, will not be conducted with ladies' powder puffs. There are 30,000 families on relief in Toronto and 50,000 unemployed workers. Women are dying in childbirth through lack of proper care, and thousands of children are undernourished in this city of churches and millionaires."

Mr. Smith stated the workers' court "may be rough and rude now but this is only the beginning. Presently in this country there will be no other court."

He then appealed for financial sup- port. He asked for $10 bills, when none were forthcoming, he reduced the plea to $5 bills, a few of which were handed up. Plenty of one dollar bills and silver were thrown into the plate.

"Come on, comrades. we need $200", said Mr. Smith. "When a big prize fight comes to Toronto, it is easy to collect fifty or seventy-five thousand dollars."

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"POLICE LAID CHARGE AGAINST A. E. SMITH," Toronto Star. February 20, 1934. Page 13. ---- Justice Minister in Error in Naming Ontario Attorney-General ---- Hon. Hugh Guthrie, minister of justice, erred when he stated yesterday in the House of Commons that the sedition charge on which Rev. A. E. Smith is awaiting trial, was preferred by the attorney-general of Ontario, The Star was told to-day. The charge against the secretary of the Labor Defence League was laid by Toronto police, it is stated on reliable authority.

The charge was laid by Sergeant of Detectives William Nursey, Detective-Sergeant Norman Tinsley and Detective Daniel Mann, three officers of the Toronto police department. The names of the officers appear on the information as complainants.

On the evening of January 17, Sergeant Nursey and his men accompanied by "a stenographer," visited Hygeia Hall, where a play and meeting was in progress. As a result of what they heard, information charging A. E. Smith with sedition, was laid before Crown Attorney McFadden.

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"A. E. SMITH GETS BAIL SPEECHES ARE BARRED," Toronto Star. February 20, 1934. Page 34. --- Will Be Re-arrested If He Discusses the Case, Judge Warns-Amount $9,000 ---- Rev. A. E. Smith was yesterday granted $9,000 bail pending his trial next Monday on the charge of uttering seditious words on condition that he would not repeat in the meantime any statements similar to that on which the charge is based.

"I will accept that undertaking," the accused man said. He had been in custody for three hours following discussion earlier as to adjournment.

Mr. Justice Kelly directed $10,000 bail but when that amount could not be raised he consented to the $9,000. The bond included the two previous bondsmen, John A. Murray, a blind man, and Anthony Marcus, and three new ones, Jack Cowan, and Mr. and Mrs. Letva.

In granting bail, Mr. Justice Kelly stipulated Mr. Smith must not attend public meetings between now and next Monday or discuss matters relevant to the charge, either in writing or orally.

"If in the meantime," said his lordship, "the accused commits a breach of this undertaking, bail will be forfeited and the accused subject to re- arrest and confinement until his trial."

His lordship later had the court reporter read to the five bondsmen a warning that bonds would be forfeited and bail estreated if a breach occurred.

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"BUCK SUGGESTS NEW PLAY NAMED 'TWO MEN WRITE'," Toronto Star. March 10, 1934. Page 1 & 2. --- Goes Back to Penitentiary in Private Coach, Closely Guarded ---- WONDERS WHO PAYS === Special to The Star Oshawa, March 10. - After a week's stay in Toronto jail, Tim Buck, convicted Communist under a five-year-sentence for sedition in Portsmouth Penitentiary, went back to the big prison to-day.

Cheerful and chatty, the sad-faced little man in his "prison blues" had been taken from the penitentiary to Toronto as a witness for the defence in the trial of Rev. A. E. Smith, secretary of the Canadian Labor Defence League, to tell his story of the alleged attempt to shoot him in his cell at the prison back in October, 1932, when the riots gripped the place. But Buck did not tell his story because Chief Justice Rose directed that his evidence would be irrelevant.

Buck travelled on the C. N. R. to Kingston to-day like a railroad magnate. He had a "private car" all to himself, with three sheriff's officers to look after him. Determined that nobody was going to talk to the prisoner, Sheriff Gorrie, of Toronto, had a special day coach attached to the rear of the Toronto-Montreal flier for Buck and his escort.

Five other prisoners sentenced to short terms were in the penitentiary party but they were put in the smoker with their guards while Mr. Timothy Buck sat down on a nice greez plush seat, and had a car all to himself. He certainly got service deluxe to-day. It is the first time in over 25 years a special car has been assigned to take prisoners to Kingston penitentiary, a railroad official told The Star.

"I wonder who is going to pay for this car?" said Buck with a smile to Deputy Sheriff Clayton and his two guards, as he put on his silver- rimmed eyeglasses to read a newspaper.

"Orders Are Orders" The Star reporter, the only newspaperman with the prison party, was ordered away from Buck when he attempted an interview. "Sorry, but Sheriff Gorrie gave explicit instructions that Buck was not to be interviewed," said an official as he held back the reporter.

Buck was moved into his special car after the train had started. At first, before the train left Toronto Union station Buck sat in the smoker and a guard blocked the door with his arms outstretched. The officer was pleasant and courteous but wouldn't budge. "That's why I am here; you cannot speak to Buck," he insisted.

When Buck was taken into the other coach he sat back and smiled. His blue eyes beamed as he surveyed "private car 2494."

Buck and the other prisoners had been brought to the Union Station in three automobiles. The prisoners were held in the baggage room downstairs till the train was made up.

"Did you see your relations?" The Star asked Buck. "Just my wife for two minutes."

"What about Rev. Mr. Smith's trial?" "Well, twelve men spoke their mind," Buck replied. The police wouldn't let the show, 'Eight Men Speak, go on, but they could put on a better play themselves."

"What kind of a play do you mean?" "Well, the title could be 'Two Men Write'."

"Rotstein was asking for you," Buck remarked to The Star reporter. who failed to recall the name at the moment. "You mean 'Slowmotion Rotstein'?" asked the reporter. "Yes, the bank robber, you know. You wrote him up when he was arrested for robbing the Bank of Commerce at Clinton and College."

Buck paid a tribute to Norman "Red" Ryan. "Yes, I sincerely believe he is a new man in body and mind," he said. "He realizes now that he wasted his life. A Toronto doctor helped him in his education, and I don't mean Withrow."

Special to The Star Belleville, March 10. - After Tim Buck had read the newspapers in his private car en route back to Kingston penitentiary, he took off his coat and sat in his black and white pin-stripe prison shirt writing. Despite the rolling of the fast train, Buck, using a sheriff's brief bag for a desk, wrote several letters. He talked very little between Toronto and Belleville. The sheriff kept the newspaperboy active in supplying him and the prisoners in another car with soft drinks, sandwiches and cigarettes.

"I read In The Star where the police commissioners thought the speech made by Smith at Hygeia Hall, was taken in shorthand, but now they know different," Buck remarked. "We will wait and see what they ask General Draper, when he comes home."

Handcuffed and Guarded At 8.20 a.m. to-day the heavy doors of the Don jail opened and Tim Buck, Communist, handcuffed to a sheriff's officer, walked out, on his way back to Kingston penitentiary to serve the remainder of his term. Five thieves handcuffed together and escorted by sheriff's officers fol- lowed Buck from the jail, and at the Union Station were placed with him in the smoking compartment of the C.N.R. train for the four-hour journey.

Dressed in his prison uniform. Buck on coming out of the jail smiled to waiting reporters. He was not allowed to carry on any conversation. Hustled into a large sedan, he was rushed to the Union Station. The officer pulled down the shades in the car on the side in which Buck was sitting when Buck waved to the reporters. The shade was quickly raised again by Buck, who still smiled, as the car pulled away. The five thieves taken to the penitentiary with Buck are: William Hill, Nick Kurly and John Martin. convicted of housebreaking and sentenced to two years each; William Goddard and John Reid, convicted of theft and sentenced to two years each.

At the station Buck was again taken to the station platform by the express office elevator to avoid crowds.

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"TIM BUCK SAYS GOOD-BY WITH A SMILE," Toronto Star. March 10, 1934. Page 9. ---- Brought here as a defence witness in the trial of Rev. A. E. Smith, found not guilty of uttering sedition, Tim Buck, former Communist leader in Toronto, was returned to Kingston penitentiary to-day. A sheriff's officer attempted to prevent The Star photographer from snapping Buck as he sat in the rear seat of an automobile, but Buck is seen pushing the blind up and waving a cheery good-by in (1). In (2) Buck is shown leaving Don jail, handcuffed to a sheriff's officer.