Let Us Rise! An Illustrated History of the Manitoba Labour Movement by Doug Smith (review)

REVIEWS 99 Because thisvolumerepresents adisparate groupof authors withdifferent backgrounds andinterests, theessays varyinqualityandintheirabilitytohold thereader's attention. The sizeofthevolumeprecluded abibliography butthe omission ofanindexandanysubstantial discussion of theoretical perspectives and debates in women'shistoryis regrettable.It is high time for women's historians tolaytheir theoretical cardson thetableandtointegrateexplicitly thefruitsof women's studies research in variousrelateddisciplines. Indeed, someof theessays makeuseof otherdisciplines, but thisvarieserratically throughout thevolume. The editorsmightalsohaveprovidedanintroduction whichattemptedto insertsometheoreticaldiscussion and especially some perspective ontheregionaldimensions of BritishColumbian women's history as a whole. LINDA KEALEY Memorial University ofNewfoundland LetUsRise! AnIllustrated History oftheManitoba Labour Movement. Dot•G SMITH. Vancouver: NewStarBooks1985.Pp. 15•, illus.$19.95cloth,$13.95paper This surveyof the developmentof Manitoba'slabour movementfrom '1881-1914:The Ageof theCraftsmen' to'196o-1984:NewStrengths, New Challenges' canonlybedescribed asprimitivebecause, liketheartwhichbears this description, the book lacksboth three-dimensional perspective and subtlety of colour.Instead,it depicts labourhistoryassimply conflict andconfrontationbetweengoodguysandbadguys ,betweenoppressed workersand exploitative and manipulativeemployers.From this equationtwo complementarysubthemes emerge.The firstis that everyimportantdevelopment involving Manitoba workers waseitheradress rehearsal foror alegacy of the WinnipegGeneralStrike;thesecond stresses theimportance of theOneBig UnionandtheCommunist partyasprimeinspirations fortheManitoba labour movement. Consequently, Smithdismisses those whosought industrial peace and co-operation as selloutsto monopolycapitalism.However, on those occasions whenhisheroes fallshorthegrasps atstraws. Forexample, headmits thattheWorkers'UnityLeaguewasunable'todeliverthegoods' asa needle trades unionbutit'achieved theloyalty ofitsmembers' nevertheless bymaking 'themfeeltheyhadsome controlovertheirdestinies.' Similarly, whiletheWt•L 'metwithlittlematerialsuccess initsscattered strikes forbetterpayandrelaxed discipline in the [relief]camps... itsveryexistence gavetheTwentyCenters a sense of dignityandpurposewhenneitherthegovernment nor the mainstream labour unions seemed to care about them.' With suchanarroworganizational perspective, thebookfailsinitsclaimto bea social historyof a provincial labourmovement. The readerthuslearns little aboutthe industrialcomplexity of the provinceor thevarioustensions whichexisted there.Moreover,outside of theimpression thatmostworkers 100 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW livedin slumsin North Winnipeg, Smithsays little aboutworking-class life, practices, andbehaviour, despite theextensive listofscholarly works onlabour andworking-class historyfrom whichhepurportstoborrow. The pictures selected bythisWinnipeg journalistshould havecompensated for theshortcomings in thenarrative.Unfortunately,mostof theillustrations arestatic, publicrelations shots of workplaces andpeople,interspersed with union chartersand newspaperheadlines.Apart from those selectedto illustrate theFlinFlonstrikeof •934, theyhavelittlevisualimpactand,since mostare not synchronized with the accompanying text, the resultisdoubly annoying.In short, one can only concludethat those seekingaccurate information, considered interpretation,or dramaticillustrations from LetUs Rise. t will be disappointed. Nevertheless, the book'ssponsor, the Manitoba LabourEducation Centre,willfindmuchin Smith's viewof thepastbecause it provides 'arichtraditionwithinwhichto continuethestruggle for ajust and equitable social order, whichisasurgenttodayasit everwas.' w.j.c. CHERWINSKI MemorialUniversity ofNewfoundland TheOrange andtheBlack.R.s.PENNEFATHER. Toronto: T.H. BestPrinting Company•984. Pp.xv, •87 TheOrange andtheBlackisdividedinto twoparts.Part I, 'Essays,' consists of twenty-two chapterswhich discuss suchaspects of CanadianOrangeism (•89o-• 94o)as'TradeUnionsandtheOrangeOrder,''TheElection of •911,' 'The OrangeParade,''OrangePowerin the 193o's, ' 'The Conservative Party and the OrangeOrder,' and 'OrangeFamilies.'The longestessay is seven pages; twoareonlyonepage.Fifteenof thetwenty-two essays arethreepages or less.Partix,'Documents,' is alsodividedinto twenty-two chapters. They correspond to the essays and purport to documentthe main phasesof Orangeismasdiscussed in the essays. The chaptersof documentsare, on average, longerthan the essays, running from twoto sixpages.Fourteenof thesechaptersare two, three, or four pageslong. Both setsof twenty-two chapters havenotes.The resultisan awkwardwork.For example,if weare interested in Chapter•6, 'A RomanCatholic Viewof theOrangeOrderinthe •9•,o's, ' wemustreadthe text in PartI, whichrunsfrom pages4ø to 43. The notes, several of whichcontaintextualmaterial,appearonpages 43-44. We thenturntoPartIX,wherethedocuments appearonpages •31-5. Thesecond setof notes isonpage•35. Pennefather's organizational schemata isnottobe emulated. The essays are too shortto be anythingbut superficial.In approachthey tendtowardsanextremeversionof theessentially supportive interpretations of Orangeismpioneeredby Hereward Senior,GregoryS. Kealey,CecilJ. Houston,andWilliamJ. Smyth.Pennefather's viewstend moreto caricature ...