Epic battle against Section 98

History never repeats itself exactly, but the drive to suppress the
workers and their struggles is never given up by the monopolists—
nor is the fight-back of the people. In a fury reminiscent of the
October 1970 onslaught on Quebec by the Liberal governments
of Quebec and Ottawa, in 1931 the Conservative governments of
Ontario and Ottawa tried to stamp out by "'the iron heel of ruth-

lessness"’ the movement of the workin

people, headed by

the Communist Party, to prevent the unloa ing of miseries of eco-

nomic crisis in the Hungry Thirties on the bac

s of the people.

While at that time they did not think of posing the lie of "'appre-
hended insurrection," they used every other device under the no-
torious Section 98 of the Criminal Code (similar permanent repres-
sive legislation is now being cooked up in Ottawa) to “throw the
book" at the workers and their revolutionary party.

The account on these pages of how that attack was met and de-
feated by the Communists, workers and democratic Canadians gen-
erally is, taken from the book "All My Life" by the late Rev. A. E.
Smith who played an important part in that struggle.

_ (Limited copies of “All My Life" are available at Progress Books.)

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In 1931 the class struggle was staged
in the courts of law right across the
Dominion. At the head of the list came
Tim Buck and his seven colleagues,
scientific socialists who stood forth in
Toronto charged under Section 98 of
the Criminal Code.

Premier Richard Bedford Bennett,
K.C., was a corporation lawyer. He had
long been a member of the “invisible
government.” He was now the visible
government. He was a multi-million-
aire, owner of the Eddy Match Com-
pany. He was an overweaning egoist,
of meager culture and of orthodox
religion. He introduced himself into the
Office of Premier as the domineering
boss.

The federal parliament had just con-
cluded its first long session under his
premiership. Unemployment was the
main issue. Bennett was sending the
unemployed to “labor camps” at an
allowance of 20 cents a day. The Tory
Henry government was in power in
Ontario. Attorney-General Price was in
cahoots with Bennett. Confronted with
the social and economic crisis of -capi-
talism, these men decided to resort to
methods of suppression by force. They
beheld in the Communist Party the
chief obstacle to their design. They
decreed that the Communist Party
should be wiped out of existence. It
was a large order. How they hated the
Communists!

I quote the words of an editorial
which appeared in the Mail and Em
pire, August’ 12, 1931:“Assisted by Hon.
Hugh Guthrie, Minister of Justice,
Colonel Price struck at the very heart
of the Communist Party. Nine raids, all
timed simultaneously for seven o’clock,
began a campaign to prove in the
courts that the Communist Party of
Canada is an unlawful organization.
Massing his forces on three fronts, At-
torney-General Price last night launch-
ed an offensive designed to wipe out of
existence the Communist Party of
Canada.”

On Monday, Nov. 2, 1931, eight men
of the political leadership of the Com-
munist Party of Canada came up for
trial. They were: Tim Buck, John Boy-
chuk, Tom Cacic, Tom McEwen, Sam
Carr, Tom Hill, M. Bruce and Matthew
Popovich.

The issue was never more clearly
joined. The courts were never more
definitely employed as an agency of
capitalist dictatorship. The deepening
class struggle of the workers for eco-
nomic freedom was never more speci-
fically associated with the leaders of

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MAY 28, 1971—PAGE 6

communism. The hearing lasted for
eight days and when they ceased the
conflict was not closed.

With fitting ceremony and suppress-
ed excitement, the court opened in the
morning. Justice Wright presided. I sat
with lawyers at the counsel table as
the representative of the Canadian
Labor Defense League (CLDL).

The trial opened in a practically
“closed court.” The police guard sur-
rounding the City Hall excluded the
many hundreds of citizens who came
seeking entrance.

Defense Counsel Hugh J. MacDonald
fired the first shot. He presented a
motion to the court to quash the in-
dictment. It was a “bad indictment.”
No specific acts done by the accused
were cited. There was no bill of parti-
culars dealing with each accused. He
put up a strong argument, but his mo-
tion was refused.

The weakest spot in the big trial
was the jury. I kept a close watch on
those 12 men all through the proceed-
ings. There were times when some of
the faces registered a total blank. I
was informed reliably that careful re-
search on the personnel of the jury
panel was carried out by the police for
weeks before the -trial. Many of the
prospective jurymen were visited to
find out their attitude towards the left-
wing labor movement. It was a stand-
pat, police-selected jury.

Crown Counsel Norman Somerville,
K.C., made — his opening address
on Tuesday. He told the jury that he

_ intended to prove that the accused men

were members of the Communist Party
of Canada and that they were parties
to a “seditious conspiracy.” In this
amazing conspiracy were involved “ad-
vocacy of a constant struggle between

. the proletariat and the bourgeoisie”

and “the abolition of all debts of the
farmers.”

The other feature of the second
morning was the reading of the

_ “charges” by the clerk. Never before

had such a document been presented
in court. Deep and awful was the
silence which fell upon the court. At
the call of their names the eight ._men
stood erect. “You are charged,” began
the clerk in solemn tones—and then—
just then—the clock in the City Hall
tower began the stroke of twelve.
“Bing-bong,” rang the clock. “Over-
throw the government,” piped the clerk.
“Bing-bonging,” rang the clock. “Force
and violence,” chanted the clerk.
“Bonged-binged,” pealed the clock. “An
illegal organization,” exclaimed the

How the ‘iron heel"
was smashed in 30's

robed clerk. It was a rude interruption
the clock had made. All who were there
will remember.

_In this vague array of charges the
Crown was actually saying simply that
Tim Buck and his colleagues had ‘‘dan-
gerous thoughts.” In the allegations
made against them, there was no
charge of a single act of violence
against the government, nor of having
advocated or attempted its forcible
overthrow. There could be no such
charges!

- The indictment was based on expres-
sions of opinion quoted from pamph-
lets, papers and books. The content of
these quotations was in the nature of
a prediction of the course that events
in history would follow as the mount-
ing revolutionary determination to be
free would take possession of the
working class of one country after
another, and would be met by the re-
sistance of the ruling class with “force
and violence.” On_ this basis, these
eight Communist leaders were being
held up as “men of violence” and “mali-
cious plotters.”

Tim Buck made his famous address
to the jury on Nov. 10. It was 10
minutes to four o’clock in the after-
noon when Judge Wright, without any
previous warning, called on Tim to give
this important address. Tim spoke,
with meager preparation, until seven
p.m. He made the courtroom his tri-
bune.

This accused Communist stood in the
perfunctory capitalist court and turned

-the charges against the prosecution.

Tim Buck presented the truths of com-
munism against the lies of capitalism.
Here is a series of quotations revealing
the high points of his speech to the
jury:

The Communists disdain to conceal

their aims. We are on trial charged
with advocating something which we
have not advocated.

The use of force and violence is the
chief method of rule of capitalism, All
over this country force and violence
are being employed by the ruling class.
From 1925 to the Estevan strike, when
three miners were shot to death, there
has been violence. This trial is part of
the method of capitalist force and
violence.

The firm basis of the Communist
movements is to be found in the Com-

MIT
The “SEDITION”

of A. E. SMITH

te

“I stand before you indicted for Sedition because
I undertook, and have undertaken, and will continoe
to undertake to press and press insistently for an
Open, penetrating, reliable investigation into the situ-
ation in the penitentiary in Kingston, where an
attempt was made to shoot Tim Buck in cold blood!”

munist Manifesto of 83 years
‘Manifesto is today a world d
It is no longer to be regarded a5
clusive possession of the Comm
it belong to the world working
The Communist movement is
tional because the problems
in the class struggle are the
every nation. The slogan is
“Workers of the World Uni
have nothing to lose but your
You have a world to gain!”
Imperialism has developed
requisites for socialism. The ©
workers become Commi
party grows out of the s
We are arriving at the perio?
historic ending of capitalism. ™
sent system of society
Gentlemen: Revolutions arise
conditions. Communism has ho
in the masses of the people
eventually build it. : a
I hope this attempt at sup
our party will only increase the 1s
tion of the need for work mil B Jj
ganization. If it does, it vil
served a good purpose, and
raised communism from a street Td |
discussion to a question f0f Pog
consideration and discussion 4 © il
it is and how it is to be bro
Thus spoke Tim Buck. a |
One hundred and three exhio de
produced in the trial. Thes¢ as
the works of such writers I etl
Marx, Frederick Engels, Vv. ict
Joseph: Stalin and others Ww trine © :
quoted to “prove” the doc =
“force and violence.” _ ties
But, great as these author! cro :
it was not on these that the oe
case rested. A “surprise wie day
heralded to appear on the thi aA
-the trial. He was proclaimeé eo
expert. His name was John man
sergeant of the RCMP. This in AA
his appearance in court clad Bs
ing red coat, blue bagged tro act
a wide yellow stripe do ant Oy
and carrying a big hat and-¢ ay
of stature, he bobbed his wat tt
witness box and took 4 ? ofS
oath. He was the sole “here. idutl il |
98. We all knew this ind {hi
was no surprise to the arene yi
often seen him in the prints W if)
Worker, tying up bundles ad pee
him as Jack Esselwein. He rn be!
the party as a painter, 4 ved ey
tten yt
at)
in |

Wa
f

the painter’s union. He 4 vy:
ings and social affairs. He W
from the Communist Partly ih
having been exposed as a SPY" at AL
Standing in the witness }®
the Crown’s star witness ae ce By
unhappy men. He wiped pea no
and again, although there He o)
cess of heat in the room. 9 mo
glass after glass of wale at (he od
his aching throat. He gaze, colly
ing. He watched the clock. pier: Boyett
the bulbs in the huge chandell®”’
never looked at Tim oF cate yl
others. He did not want en mal
eyes. For seven years he “Hey
acted as a deceiver and 4 Bi vt
ity has always regarded the od
lowest of the low. This s e a
of the basic testimony 9 vor jf
against the leaders of the bbe 4
His testimony was, in 4 g st
ridiculous sense — note i of
what might be called Ree evide® #) §
was not one jot or tittle of pete
any act or deed of any S® ted 7
by the accused men subm! if
court. ae eae
In his charge to the july 5S ath

BSFSLAER EEE

referred to this “star” wie pt
“Here the evidence worn inetd
indicate, if you accept 7 peg
Communist Party divides © jy a “ft
Canada into two classes - ° just Py
cratic country... is it 4) 7

ao
$9

SS.

i SL

and lawful thing to set
classes against the one om ahh
The trial of the el8)” ute gf

EL,

ee

leaders took its point of deP i if

the infamous Section 98, in ig hi
legal monstrosity “concel istic lids im
shapen in iniquity.” S@ ly this te
had waited 12 years to PP.” ihe :

s.

“

rical Tories of 1919. AMY o¢ wth
indignation of the mass i

against their vile metho om
ilk carried through he pasa!
frame-up of the Communl>
the “evidence” of sneering

ee