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By BERT WHYTE

EN the Beaver Line steam-
ship Lake Huron berthed at

Halifax on January’ 23, 1899,
bringing the first mass party of
2,100 Doukhobor immigrants to
Canada, enthusiastic citizens gave
them a warm welcome and a
labor spokesman expressed the
hope that “the same gentle force
which caused you to throw your
gins down in Europe will dis-
mantle even the forts of Halifax.”

This peace-loving labor leader,
identified inadequately by a re-

, porter of the. Halifax Morning

Chronicle as “J. T. Bulmer, ap-
pointed by. a society of working-
men to welcome the Doukhobors
to Canada,” told the immigrants,
through their interpreter, Prince
Hilkoff:

“Not only are you a great ac-
cesion of immigration of a most
desirable class, but more, you
bring to Canada something more
needed in this pins Bt than even
immigrants — men who would
stand by their principles, no mat-
ter how much suffering it cost
them. :

“Your noble stand in refusing
to bear arms, and becoming ex-
iles from your native land for the
sake of principle, will strengthen
every good cause in Canada.

* “T have never witnessed so
touching a spectacle in my life
as to see 2,000 people driven
from Russia -— over half of them
women and children — and en-
tering the new world through a
port, every point of prominence

of which contained a frowning >

fort or bastion. Nevertheless
peace will have her victories, and
the same gentle force which
caused you to throw your guns
down in Europe will dismantle
even the forts of Halifax. ...
_ “I do not know the name of
your emperor, but the name of
your patron and friend, Count
Leo Tolstoy, is as well known in
Canada as in Russia. .. . On be-
half of the workingmen of this
country, I welcome you to Can-
ada and bid you God-speed.”

A reporter of the St. John
Daily Star wrote: ‘

“The Doukhobors are a simple
and for the most part illiterate
people. They are reputed to be
good agriculturists and skilful
people at various kinds of village
handicrafts. . . .

“The faces of both sexes, old
are intelligent’ and.

found with their habits. They are

a godly people and live up to the

rule that cleanliness is next to
godliness . The condition of the
Huron when she reached this side
of the Atlantic after a voyage of
5,000 miles (from Batum), with a
passenger list of 2,000, who had
lived on board about a month,
was all the reply, that was neces-
sary for the refutation of the
charge that these people were
not a desirable lot of settlers.
The ship’s deck was clean enough
to eat a meal from.”

The Montreal Daily Star quoted

the testimony of the ship’s cap-
tain:

“Captain Evans said he had
been agreeably surprised at the
intelligent, industrious and clean-
ly nature of the Doukhobors. Not
only had they cared for them-
selves and kept the ship perfect-
ly clean, but they had earned
small wages shifting coal from
the hold to the bunkers. Over

800 tons they had moved as skil-

fully as any crew would have
done. They were quiet and peace-

_ ful and always seemed cheerful.-

“He had not seen a row or
heard a cross word among them
during the voyage. There was no
vice of any kind among them,
and he believed they would make
a superior class of immigrants.

“The Doukhobors are the fin-
est agriculturists in Russia:
wherever they have been left
alone for a short time they have
prospered, making the wilderness
smile with cultivation.”

Three days later, on January
27, 1899, the second party of
Doukhobors, numbering 1,974, ar-
rived on the Lake Superior.

Soon the majority of the new
settlers were established tempor-
arily in immigration halls at Win-
nipeg, Brandon and Yorkton. The
men set out immediately for the
settlements to cut timber for
storehouses and homes; some
went to work on the railroads to
earn money in preparation for
settling on the land in the spring.

The money was turned over to
the community to buy stock, im-
plements and seed.

The great immigration experi-
ment had, apparently, got off to
a good start. \

*

Only four years later this item
appeared on the editorial page of
the New York Tribune:

“Russian Socialists, variously
called Doukhobors, Dukabors
and Duke Hoboes, are trying to
persuade the Manitoban authori-
ties to release some of their
comrades from a madhouse by
going on the asylum grounds and
stripping off their clothes. The
chances are about ten to one that
they will get themselves locked
up before they get their fellow
madmen released.”

: *

The history of the Doukhobors
in Canada over the past half
century is a tragic story of ar-
rests, jailings, separation of
children from their parents, and
futile attempts on the part of
various government commissions
to find a solution to the “Douk-
hobor problem.”

It would require a book to tell
the whole story. Books have
been written, but the authors®
have made only cursory attempts
to present the views of the Douk-
hobors. Yet even the most casual
examination indicates that these
misunderstood people have a
powerful case.

Among the facts which must be
recognized before any just. solu-
tion of the “Doukhobor prob-
lem” is possible are these:

+ Doukhobors have lived up
to the reputation they brought
with them to Canada as an hon-
est, peace-loving and industrious
people. They have “wherever
they have been left alone for a
short time . . . made the wilder-
ness smile with cultivation.”

+ From the time of their ar-
rival in Canada, the Doukhobors

Doukhobors

and the federal and provincial
governments have continually
disagreed as to the exact prom-
ises made to the immigrants be-
fore their arrival on such ques-
tions as military service, educa-
tion, vital statistics and the land
question. Rigidity in handling
these questions on the part of
government authorities has been
the cause of. numerous Doukho-
bor protests.

+ Sentences meted out to ar-
rested Doukhobors have been
excessively harsh and have re-
sulted in increased tension over
the years.

+ At ie very heart of the
‘“Doukhobor problem” lies the
land question. The Doukhobors
feel, and with good reason, that
they have been robbed of the
fruit of their toil on several oc-
casions, notably in Saskatchewan

in 1907‘ and in British Columbia

in 1938.
* :

On.September 1, 1912, the New
York Sun published this brief
and substantially correct ac-
count of why many Doukhobors
left Saskatchewan and migrated
to British Columbia:

“Tt is 10 years now since the
Canadian government gave the
Doukhobors their land in western
Canada — 320,000 acres of land,
which at the very lowest valua-
tion must be worth $30 an acre
now.

“True to their cooperative prin-
ciples, the Doukhobors cultivated
one great tract at the centre of
the land allotted to them, 2,000
homesteads of 160 acres each,
equal to 15 acres for each set-
tler. When they came to ask for
their title they did not ask for
individual patents, but for the
whole piece.

“They surely met the spirit
and the object of the law, but
there was no provision made in
the law, the authorities said, for
the communal method of cultiva-
tion, combining so many quarter
sections into one huge tract of
property. So the authorities held
up their title, and finally came
forward with a thinly veiled ulti-
matum to either become British
subjects or else forfeit the land.
The Doukhobors gave up the land
without a moment’s hesitation.

“The Doukhobors retained
their freedom and 15 acres a
homestead. It was nothing new
for them to contend with official
coercion. And they are not afraid
of work. Their name implies
that their religion lies in strug-
gling — ‘spirit wrestlers’ would
be a literal translation, albeit
somewhat bemuddling their
meaning.

“About 2,000 of them remain-
ed on what was left of their land,
and the others went far off into
British Columbia, where they pur-
chased 10,000 acres at the junc-

.tion of the Columbia and Koot- -

enay rivers.

“The land is now all but com-
pletely paid for and the accumu-
lated wealth of the new settle-
ment mounts well up into the sec-
ond million — in houses, factor-
ies, live stock, sawmills, grain
mills, agricultural machinery, all
of which is assessed and taxed to

the full value. But this is as far
as the Doukhobors will go in their
recognition of political authori-
ties.

“They will have no police—for
ther€ is no crime among them,
while theft is out of the question.
They will not apply for any certi-
fication for interment, nor birth
certificates; in fact, they will not
have anything to do with officials
except to pay their taxes. And
this is by no means on account of
any nihilistic propensities of their
doctrine.

“Their cult is Christianity pure
and simple, simple as can be, ad-
hering to the dogma of Christ as
closely as possible to human en-

deavor.”
*

British Columbians were at
first delighted with these new
settlers ,who by their industry
and farming know-how were help- ©
ing to build up the province. The
main body of Doukhobors under
the leadership of Peter (Lordly)
Veregin formed themselves into
an organization known as the
Christian Community of Uni-
versal Brotherhood (CCUB) and
their settlements in the West
Kootenay region thrived.

Among the Sir Wilfred Laurier
papers is this letter from Rev.
John McDougall, well - known
western missionary, to Hon.
Frank Oliver, federal minister of
the interior. Dated March 21,
1910, it reads, in part:

“Referring to our conversation
of this morning, I beg to report
that, while in the Southern Dis-
trict of B.C. during December
last, I visited the colonies of the
Doukhobor people now located
there. ...

“T found that within the short
time of their residence in British
Columbia these people had de-
veloped on all these lands and in
about 18 months had made some
wonderful improvements on
same. They had built a road up
the Pass Creek for several miles
te their holding and when I was
there were busy preparing to
bridge the Kootenai River be-
tween Brilliant and the Pass |
Creek settlement.

“T found that at Brilliant they
had put up two sawmills and a
number of fine dwelllings in mod-
ern style and stables and out-
buildings, also cleared up 500
acres of forest land and planted
these with tens of thousands of
fruit trees, and’ had when I was
there some 17,000 seedlings ready
to be set out this spring.

“They had also terraced the
hill slopes and planted these with
grape vines. They had gone into
irrigation and created a large
cement reservoir for the conserv-
ing of water for their purpose and
ran a number of ditches into the
reservoir.

“Besides this they had furnish-
ed labor from their community to
mills and other industries to the
extent of bringing them in some
$30,000 cash. I further found
that they were both healthy and
happy and very much appreciated
by the general public of British
Columbia. Railway men and mer-
chants and settlers and citizens
spoke of them as peaceful and
industrious and valuable people.

“If British Columbia climate
continues as it is and these Douk-
hobors go on as they have begun
they will shortly become the
great fruit producers of that
region, and in the meanwhile
British Columbians are so pleas-
ed with them and their honest
industrious activities that I heard
many say, “We wish that a couple
more thousand of these people
would come over and settle in
our country.’ ”

Trouble began for the Doukho-
bors in British Columbia on June
13, 1911, when four men were
seized and thrown into jail; two
for failing to make out declara-
tions about the death of their
mother and brother respectively,

Continued on page 10
See DOUKHOBORS

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JANUARY 8, 1954 — PAGE 9