om he helped to bring down a government ‘HIS month marks the eighth an- niversary of the death of Arthur Evans, the miners’ organizer from Vancouver whose indomitable leadership of the On-To-Ottawa Trek in the Hungry Thirties help- ed to bring down the Conservative government of Prime Minister R. B. Benneit. In his newly published book, — He Wrote For Us: The Story of Bill Benneti, Pioneer Socialist Journalist*, Tom McEwen relates the story of Evans’ interview with Bennett. He writes in Chapter 10, “The On-To-Ottawa Trek’: A delegation representing the trekkers, led by Arthur Evans, proceeded to Ottawa to lay their case before Prime Minister Ben- nett. The interview was mem- orable—and dramatic. Clad only in overalls, gaunt and pale, like a man who had spent too long a shift in a deep mine, Arthur Evans presented the case, hrief- ly, pointed, and with all the great dignity of his class. Behind his broad mahogany desk sat the “iron heel” Prime Minister of Canada, the blood rising up his fat neck and dif- fusing his face as Evans spoke. It was apparent that he could not contain his anger. In con- tradistinction to Evan’s quiet dignity, he exploded in choleric wrath. “What you want is ad- venture in the hope of over- throwing the government ... we have taken care of our un- employed as well as ‘has any country in the world... in these camps contentment prevails, if not real happiness . . . the relief camps are a ‘humanitarian movement. There will be no tolerance of soviets in these camps. (To Bennett the camp committees ‘were “soviets.’’) Tell your men to go back to the camps. . . “Who do you think you are to come here with demands? Do you know who Iam? I am the prime minister of Canada! Pris- on is too good for you and your rabble!” “Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, I know who you are,” replied Arthur Evans, leaning over the desk and looking directly into Bennett’s hate-crazed eyes. -“You are the prime minister of Can-° ada, but you are not fit to be the chief in a Hottentot village. You are a liar!” - Swarms of RCMP in and around the Parliament Build- ings, held ready in case .of an ‘emergency,’ came to Bennett’s rescue and showed me trekkers' delegation out. Outside a large assembly waited to hear the re- sults. There wasn’t much to tell, but Arthur Evans told it in the language workers under- stand. The social democratic leaders, true to type and tradition, de- plored Evans’ attitude — not Bennett’s. Their own attitude was that Evans had ruined their efforts—largely confined to ex- hortations to “vote for us’—to help the unemployed. No one, they maintained, could call the prime minister a liar to his face and then expect to get some- thing done. But that was just like the Communists. Something was done. The slave camp “cure” was definite- ly finished, although it lingered on for a little time after, and the idea of a system of unem- ‘ployment insurance began to germinate in some Tory and Liberal minds, despite Bennett’s trumpeted edict that “he would “never put a premium on idle- ness.” e And in Chapter 14, ‘‘A Friend In Deed,” McEwen tells how “Ol Bilf’ Bennett set out to. raise a memorial fund after Ey- ans. died in February, 1944, and quotes the tribute Ol’ Bill wrote for “‘a great guy.” Arthur Evans (to his friends the was always “Art” or “Slim”) carpenter, miner and Commun- ist, the man who had written one of the finest pages in Can- adian labor history, died in Feb- ruary, 1944, from injuries re- ceived in a traffic accident. His death left his wife and daughter almost penniless, with a home heavily mortgaged — the mort- gage on an earlier home, held by a Vancouver alderman, was foreclose din 1932 while Evans was serving a sentence in Oak. alla prison for his part in the Princeton miners’ strike. “Not a very far-sighted man,” a mul- ti-million dollar insurance com- pany might moralize. The Ben- nett government thought Evans was ‘much too far-sighted—for the professional collectors of rent, interest and profit. During the greater part of his life Ev- ans had been too busy trying ‘to organize and help ‘his fellow men to give much thought to his own welfare. Men and ‘women of his calibre do not seek the “comfort” ‘themselves but only the wealth of the future for their class. In > his last conscious hours he was battling in the annual conven- ’ oe. of the ipresent for’ tion of his union for a greater share of the wealth to those whose labors produced it. Ol Bill personally organized and led the committee of twenty oldtimers, men like Bert Sam- son, then of New Westminster, each of whom undertook to give or collect $20 towards Evans’ hospital and medical expenses and to organize others to col- lect. After Evans’ death, Ol Bill continued his work for what became known as the “Arthur Evans Memorial Fund.” The columns of Fhe People of that period record the magnificent response ‘from workers’ who knew the great contribution Ev- ans had made to his fellow men. Ol’ Bill dedicated a full col- ‘umn to his friend and comrade: “When I say ‘Slim’ Evans was a great guy I mean that. There are some critical folks who see only the mistakes that ‘Slim’ made. They forget that only men who do great things can make mistakes. Those who never make mistakes never make anything. But even mis- takes have their value, as a reading of the works of Lenin demonstrates. And if ‘Slim’ did make mistakes, they are more than counter-balanced by the successes he scored. “Art Evans wrote his name indelibly on the scroll of Can- adian life. Professors of history cannot write the story of Can- ada’s growth from 1935 on, with- out some reference to the On- To-Ottawa Trek. “The idea of the trek origin- ated in the mind of Art Evans. - He organized every detail of it. He inspired the disinherited un- employed youth of Canada to participate in it. He accepted the leadership of it. Art Evans symbolized the trek, one of the outstanding incidents in the ad- vance of the ‘Canadian working people toward their ultimate goal of socialism. ; “ Slim’ ‘had a one-track mind. Everything he did had one pur- pose—the betterment of the lot of the workers. He may have made detours, but he never halt- ed. The bullets of the hirelings of the Colorado Coal and Iron Company and the jails of the United States and Canada never deflected him from his stern purpose. He was built 'that way. “When ‘Slim’ had anything to say he did not beat about the bush. The trek did not end in the streets of Regina under the © guns of the RCMP. It had an- other finish in Ottawa, in the office of R. B. Bennett, whom ocean Pog -SPORTLIGHT. See By BERT WHYTE HINESE call 1952 the Year of the Dragon. Canadians should call it the Year of the Badger. A Badger, in sports language, is an over-stuffed gentleman with three chins and a Churchill cigar, who attaches himself to our Olympic team and travels overseas in de luxe style to take in the Games. Somewhere along the line he finds « title —coach, or manager, or advisor of sorts. Webster’s Twentieth Century Dictionary says a Badger has a “clumsy build, with short, thick legs, and long claws on the forefcet.” Badgering is defined as ‘‘the act of pestering or worrying.” Our Can- adian Olvmpic Badgers have all these characteristics, plus. These thoughts spring to mind as I read a Labor News Service dispatch from Toronto telling how a five-hour closed session of the Canadian Olympic Committee barred electrical worker Harty — Peace from heading up ‘Canada’s Olympic wrestling team as coach. | Peace is only one of a number of qualified coaches and train- ers who are tossed out to make way for Badgers. In his case, however, another dirty angle enteres the picture. barred. because. A. Sidney Dawes, Canadian Olympic Peace was Association president and King of the Badgers, had charged he was a Com- munist.. The report continues: “Peace told reporters the charges were ‘untrue and unfair’ and challenged Dawes to bring the matter up for open. debate. Dawes refused to answer pressmen -or a wire from Peace demand- ing an explanation. “A speech he made on return from the 1948 Olympics in which he declared he was impressed by there and that the Olympics co was cited by Peace as a possible the international goodwill shown uld be a force for world peace, basis for the action. He also said he had signed 'the celebrated Stockholm ‘Appeal to ban the A-bomb which had circulated through the shops where he works. “An amateur wrestler for 22 years, Peace was slated fer the job because of his record in the sport. He is now national Amateur Athletic Union chairman of wrestling. He has taken the national welterweight championship three times; was an Olympics competitor and captained the team in 1948; and won a British Empire Games trial in 1937.” * * Frank Sedgman was the toast of the sports world Down Under when he whipped Vic Seixas of the United States to retain the coveted Davis Cup for Australia a couple of weeks ago. After that feat, knocking off the Aussie title seemed like small potatoes.. It turned oui’ otherwise. A youngster named Ken McGregor created the biggest court upset of the season by troucing Sedgman 7-5, 12-10, 2-6, 6-2 in the final. McGregor, ironically, had been bypassed by the Davis Cup team seled{ors in picking singles plavers. * \ * SPORT JABS: Attorney-General Gordon Wismer was roundly booed by boxing fans at the Golden Gloves tournament Saturday when he stepped into the ting to present a trophy to Len Walters. When a Sun announcer held up his hand for silence, he was given the raspberry, too... A Seattle ski jumper was killed in a freak accident last week, when he smashed into another jumper while streaking down the landing Slope after a 160-foot leap. The skier who lost his life was Bill Gunderson, 35, a native of Norway. ... Editor John Weir of the Ukrainian Canadian picked up an item from this column concerning an English race horse wh'ch beer. opens .. likes “Black Horse?’ he titled it... Only 127 days till Lansdowne - Old Joe Walcott must defend his title soon or lose. it by default. We think he’ll lose the crown whatever he does. no titles can endear to the Can- adian people. “While leading a strike of the miners of the Drumheller Val-. ley, ‘Slim’ and the miners’ com- mittee of which he was a mem- ber used money to “feed the striking miners that John L. Lewis considered was earmark-. ed-for himself. This was a “crime” in the eyes of the coal owners, their lawyers, and John L. Lewis, so they threw Evans in jail. That was for thinking first of the workers. ‘ “When the committee for the trekkers reached Ottawa to dis- cuss their demands with the cabinet, Bennett called Evans ‘a thief. : “Then , ‘Slim’ made the short- est’ crispest, truest and most pungent speech ever made with- in the walls of the Parliament Building—three words address: ed to Bennett, ‘You’re a liar’.” Although he also had the task of raising through ‘his column his customary substantial con. tribution to the annual financial campaign of The People, then in progress, this grand old pioneer of socialism, chairman and treasurer of the “Arthur Evans Memorial Fund,’ report- ed a few weeks later to his hundreds of supporters: “The final sum collected was $3070.38. Expenses for printing stationery and postage stamps ° amounted to $2.32, less than one © cent on the dollar. The sum of $1. was paid for photos taken at the funeral. I was originally chairman of the committee but the turn of events made me in- to treasurer also, and all funds were handled by me exclusive- ly. I am proud to ‘have occupied this position. I look upon few men as heroes, but ‘Slim’ Evans was one of them. The balance handed over to Mrs. Evans was $3029.06, two-and-a-half times the amount we sought to raise. To all who helped — Thanks. They have their reward in the memory of a great comrade.” “He Wrote For Us: The Story of Bill Bennett, Pioneer Social- ist Journalist, published by the Tribune Publishing Company Limited, Room 6, 426 Main Street, Vancouver, B.C., price $1. (paner cover), $8 (library edition). PACIFIC TRIBUNE — FEBRUARY 8, 1952 — PAGE 10: