English-Canadian Opposition to the South African War as seen through the Press

CARMAN MILLER Engli Opp ' sh- Canadian osihon tothe South African War ß asseen through the Press TI•. souTI•^FR•c^•4 w^Rwonwidepopularsupportfrom theEnglish-Canadian press.T.G. Marquiscapturedthe exuberantmoodof the moment whenhewrotein •9oo:'War! War! echoedthroughouttheDominion,and in everycity,town,hamlet,from VictoriatoCharlottetown, youngmen,the flowerof the country,cried"We are ready!"'• SomeCanadians, however, even someEnglish Canadians,greeted the war with far lessglee than Marquissuggests. Theydeploredthewar'siniquity,itscost andinhumanity, itsviolationof theconstitution andChristianprinciple.They recruitedtheir following among certain segmentsof society,notably farmers, radical labour,protestant clergy,andstoutanglophobic Canadians, particularlyof Irish and German descent. Since most Canadian historians have assumed 'that, exceptfor GoldwinSmithand histwo smallweeklypapers,English Canadians endorsed thewar,thisstudywillexaminethenatureandextent of English-Canadian opposition revealedin theCanadianpress. Newspapers, despitetheirobvious limitations,providehistorians withtwo basic typesof evidence - editorialopinionandfactualinformation.Editorial policy,however,is no infallibleindex to itsreaders'sentiments. Although editorswereusuallyinformed,articulatemembersof their communitywho couldinfluence and/orreflectpublicfeeling,manyreadersremainedignorantor indifferenttoeditorialopinion.They purchased thepapernotfor its editorialinstruction butforotherpurposes - localnews, entertainment, and technicaladvice.At the sametime, an editorial policywhichviolatedthe deeplyheldconvictions of itsreaderscouldresultin reducedsubscriptions, loss of advertising, and,indeed,insolvency. A successful editor(measured in termsofhiscapacity toretainorincrease subscriptions) hadtogauge carefully • T.G. Marquis,Canadxtg Son.• onKopje andVelt(Toronto •9oo),28 Vol. •.vNo 4 December •974 THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR AND THE PRESS 423 thetemperof hisconstituency. At best, therefore, editorial policy canserve asa crudeindicationof itsreaders'feelingsor apathy.At the sametime, newspapers canprovideinvaluable factualinformationon people,places, and thingsunavailable elsewhere. Sincefewof the menwhoopposed the SouthAfrican War left archivalmaterialor attainedanydegreeof public recognition outside theirlocalregion,newspapers haveserved asanindispensable source of evidence for astudyof thisnature. Canadian farmers,according to onewriter,weretheonlyoccupational groupnot'visibly stampeded bytheLoyalist '2pro-war press. FourCanadian weeklies, The Bobcaygeon Independent, The Farmers' Weekly Sun,TheCanadian Gleaner, andTheStandard, aallcatering primarilytoaruralclientele, firmly opposed thewar.A common core ofarguments permeated theircritique. Theyblamed thewarontheselfish, aggressive Rand plutocracy who, aided andabetted bypoliticians (notably Chamberlain, Milner, andRhodes) and theblindly servile yellow press, hadgoaded thesimple Boerfarmerinto resistance. Theydismissed theUitlanders' grievances asgross hypocrisy, the ferment ofmalcontents, pointing tothe'hundreds ofthousands ofBritish subjects still unenfranchised' inIndiaandthethousands offoreign farmers patiently waiting forthefranchise inWestern Canada. 4Theypraised the Boers, 'apoorpastoral people,' 'likeourselves, '5bravely 'fighting undera grimoldKruger who trusts God andkeeps hispowder dry?Theystressed thecommon ties ofrace,'ourcousins,' andreligion, theironyofworshipping 'thesameGodweprofess to fearandfollowandwhoarepleading the righteousness oftheircause atHisfeet?Theyallappealed tothefarmer's morality,his traditionaldislikeof big government, debt, taxes,and militarism. Significant differences based on personality, priority,andregion,however ,gave each journala distinctive flavour. Theyallpossessed directors withstrong personalities. Forexample, Goldwin Smith,a formerOxford donwhoafter•87• resided inToronto,ownedbutdidnoteditThe Farmers' Weekly Sun, thevoice ofOntario agrarian interests, particularly those ofthe declining Patrons of Industry. Throughout thewar,evenwhenhewasin Europe,Smithcontributed a weekly commentary on the SouthAfrican crisis. A strict Manchester Liberal, opposed toimperialism which hedefined assubjection of 'alien'peoples, Smithsimply parroted thearguments of 2 TheCitizen andCountry (Toronto),4 Nov. •899 3 The Canadian Newspaper Directory (Montreal •899 )gives thefollowing circulation figures for these weeklies: The Bobcaygeon Independent, 5oo;The Farmers' Weekly Sun,•3,2•o;The Canadian Gleaner, •68o;TheStandard (Regina),22oo 4 TheCitizen andCountry, 2• Oct. •899 5 TheCanadian Gleaner, •9 Oct. •899 6 TheStandard,• • Oct. •899 7 Ibid., • Nov. •899 424 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW British anti-imperialistLiberals.He, alone of all the Canadiananti-war spokesmen, deploredBritish'atrocities,'the concentration camp,and the useofdum-dumbullets.S Hecondemned awarfoughtintheinterests ofthe Rand plutocracy,composed chieflyof Jews,an argumentrepeatedby The Standard. 9Hisvision,however, remainedmoreglobalandless rootedin the Canadian context thanthatof hisagrariancolleagues. TheCanadian Gleaner's editor,RobertSellar,wasa tough-mindedScotby birth,trainedin the hardschool of GeorgeBrown's journalism.In •863 he left TheGlobe to becomeeditor of TheGleaner, situatedin Huntingdon, Quebec,close tothe Ontarioborder.There heposedasthe GeorgeBrown of Quebec, thelastbulwarkof Quebec's EnglishProtestant farmers.He was a Liberal by conviction, believingin a societycomposed of farmersand mechanics, 'whoweretaxednomorethanforthegovernment ofthecountry andwhosought equalityofsociety, freedomof tradeandopposed amilitary establishment. '•ø In contrastto Smith,Sellar'sargumentswere parochial.First,he played on the farmers' isolationist sentiments. From the start he warned Laurier againstthrowing away 'either Canadian life or treasure in the African wilderness.'•• The war, he wrote, wasof no concern to Canadian farmers. To askCanadianyouthto 'murder' Boers,who were simple'farmerslike the peopleof thisdistrict,' wasnotonlyimmoral,a sinin theeyes of'God andof those who seek to obey his commandments, '•2 but an immeasurable economiclossto the countrybadly in need of men to developitsnatural wealth.'If ColonelSamHughesand a f•w otherexcitable officerswantto go,'hewrote,'letthemdosoattheirowncharges. '•a Sellarcalledhissecond objection...