Bankers' Toadies incident
Encyclopedia
The Bankers' Toadies incident took place in 1937 in Alberta
, Canada when a pamphlet was discovered advocating the "extermination" of nine men identified as "Bankers' Toadies". The men identified were opponents of the Social Credit
government of Premier
William Aberhart
, which had been elected on a platform of giving all Albertans monthly dividends; Aberhart blamed the banking system for his failure to follow through on this pledge.
After David Duggan, leader of the Conservative Party
and one of the men named, raised his concern over the pamphlet in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
, police raided the Social Credit League's Edmonton headquarters. Social Credit whip
Joe Unwin and the Social Credit Board
's advisor, George Frederick Powell, were arrested and charged with criminal libel
and counselling to murder. A trial convicted both of the libel charge and sentenced them to hard labour.
's Social Credit League
won a substantial victory in the 1935 Alberta provincial election
on the strength of its promise to implement social credit
, an economic theory proposed by British engineer C. H. Douglas
. Social credit held that the poverty of the Great Depression
was in part the fault of bankers, who kept the cost of credit
, and by extension of production, high. Aberhart's solution involved, among other things, monthly "credit dividends" to Albertans in the amount of C$25.
By 1937, Aberhart's failure to implement these dividends or make other progress towards implementing social credit made many of his backbencher
s suspect that he was either unwilling to do, or incapable of doing, so. This belief, combined with a suspicion that he didn't properly understand Douglas's theories, led to the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt
. One outcome of the revolt was Aberhart's ceding a number of the government's powers to the Social Credit Board, made up of five Social Credit backbenchers. Glenville MacLachlan, its chair, travelled to the United Kingdom
where he asked Douglas to come to Alberta and serve as its advisor. Douglas declined, but in his stead sent two of his lieutenants, L. D. Byrne and George Frederick Powell.
In response to what they saw as the radically anti-business views of the Aberhart government and the Social Credit Board, Alberta's mainstream opposition parties—chiefly the Liberals
and the Conservatives
—began to cooperate under the auspices of the newly formed People's League
.
to draw its attention to a pamphlet distributed in and around the legislature building that called for his "extermination". The front of the leaflet read as follows:
The back of the pamphlet listed nine men identified as "toadies". Besides Duggan, they were
Below this list of names were the words "Exterminate Them. And to prevent all Evasion, Demand the Result You Want—$25.00 a MONTH and a lower cost to live."
On October 3, the police raided the Social Credit League's Edmonton office and seized 4,000 copies of the pamphlet. Griesbach pressed charges against Powell and Social Credit whip
Joseph Unwin
for criminal libel and counselling to murder.
assigned to it. Either trial judge William Carlos Ives or a justice of the peace
countered by appointing a private prosecutor so the case could go ahead. Both defendants were held on $20,000 bail
.
On October 27, both men appeared before police magistrate A. H. Gibson for their preliminary hearing
s on the criminal libel charge (the counselling to murder charge had been dropped). Unwin opted for a jury trial
, while Powell chose to be tried by a judge alone. Unwin's trial proceeded first. He testified that he had ordered the pamphlets, which were paid for by the government, and then circulated them as a publication of the "United Democrats", a fictitious organization that listed its address as that of Unwin's home. According to Unwin, the leaflet's text, minus the named individuals, had been provided to him by Powell, he had sent it to the printer's in exactly that form, and he was surprised to see the names in the final version. Though his testimony was vague and apparently evasive, he admitted to destroying 4,000 copies of the leaflet on the day of the police raid. He was convicted and Ives, dismissing Unwin's role in the affair as that of an "errand boy", sentenced him to three months hard labour.
Powell's trial proceeded immediately after Unwin's, and his testimony contradicted much of what Unwin had said. Powell claimed that Unwin had put the list of names on the pamphlet, and that Powell had expected that it would list organizations rather than individuals. Ives found Unwin's testimony more credible, convicted Powell, and sentenced him to six months hard labour. He also recommended that he be deported following his sentence.
The case attracted considerable media attention and mixed reactions. A Toronto
spokesman for the Communist Party of Canada
protested the arrests and called for a "united front" against the People's League. Aberhart maintained that the men had been jailed on the basis of some harmless political humour, and encouraged the federal government to grant them clemency; Prime Minister of Canada
William Lyon Mackenzie King
responded that to do so would be to engage in "direct interference by the federal executive with the free and proper functioning of our courts". Some Social Crediters drove every night to the Fort Saskatchewan Penitentiary, where the men were being held, to show their support. On February 11, 1938, the legislature passed a resolution calling for the men's release.
Douglas reacted to his deputy's arrest with anger, telling reporters that "whoever is instigating the proceedings is asking for a great deal of trouble, and is likely to get it." On December 10, 1937, he wrote King to tell him that he had been invited to come to Alberta to provide advice, and asked if he would be risking arrest and deportation if he did so. King responded that as long as Douglas, unlike Powell, refrained from running afoul of the Criminal Code of Canada
, he had nothing to fear.
At the end of Unwin's sentence, the Social Credit members of the legislature celebrated with a snake dance
. Powell was released early, on March 21, 1938, in an attempt by King to bolster his Liberals' chances in a by-election in Edmonton East
the same day; the by-election was won by Social Crediter Orvis A. Kennedy
, and a jubilant celebration followed. Once again, the Communists expressed solidarity with the Social Crediters, with Jan Lakeman
thanking the voters for giving "an overwhelming defeat to the forces of reaction". Powell left Canada immediately upon his release, but not before being paid $4,000 by the Alberta government as thanks for his services.
On August 18, 1938, police magistrate A. H. Gibson, who had presided over the prosecution of Unwin and Powell, was dismissed without cause by Order in Council. Gibson believed that his dismissal was due to "the government's resentment over my action in the Powell-Unwin case and the fact that they hold me more or less to blame for the fact that the accused men were sent to jail." Aberhart's Social Crediters were re-elected with a reduced majority in the 1940 provincial election
; Aberhart remained premier until his 1943 death. Unwin was defeated in 1940 by Labour
candidate Angus James Morrison
. Though he lived until January 4, 1987, Unwin remains most remembered for his involvement in the Bankers' Toadies incident.
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Canada when a pamphlet was discovered advocating the "extermination" of nine men identified as "Bankers' Toadies". The men identified were opponents of the Social Credit
Social Credit Party of Alberta
The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....
government of Premier
Premier of Alberta
The Premier of Alberta is the first minister for the Canadian province of Alberta. He or she is the province's head of government and de facto chief executive. The current Premier of Alberta is Alison Redford. She became Premier by winning the Progressive Conservative leadership elections on...
William Aberhart
William Aberhart
William Aberhart , also known as Bible Bill for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh Premier of Alberta between 1935 and 1943. The Social Credit party believed the reason for the depression was that people did not have enough money to spend, so the government...
, which had been elected on a platform of giving all Albertans monthly dividends; Aberhart blamed the banking system for his failure to follow through on this pledge.
After David Duggan, leader of the Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...
and one of the men named, raised his concern over the pamphlet in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...
, police raided the Social Credit League's Edmonton headquarters. Social Credit whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
Joe Unwin and the Social Credit Board
Social Credit Board
The Social Credit Board was a committee in Alberta, Canada from 1937 until 1948. Composed of Social Credit backbenchers in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, it was created in the aftermath of the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt. Its mandate was to oversee the implementation of social...
's advisor, George Frederick Powell, were arrested and charged with criminal libel
Criminal libel
Criminal libel is a legal term, of English origin, which may be used with one of two distinct meanings, in those common law jurisdictions where it is still used....
and counselling to murder. A trial convicted both of the libel charge and sentenced them to hard labour.
Background
William AberhartWilliam Aberhart
William Aberhart , also known as Bible Bill for his outspoken Baptist views, was a Canadian politician and the seventh Premier of Alberta between 1935 and 1943. The Social Credit party believed the reason for the depression was that people did not have enough money to spend, so the government...
's Social Credit League
Social Credit Party of Alberta
The Alberta Social Credit Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada, that was founded on the social credit monetary policy and conservative Christian social values....
won a substantial victory in the 1935 Alberta provincial election
Alberta general election, 1935
The Alberta general election of 1935 was the eighth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 22, 1935 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
on the strength of its promise to implement social credit
Social Credit
Social Credit is an economic philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas , a British engineer, who wrote a book by that name in 1924. Social Credit is described by Douglas as "the policy of a philosophy"; he called his philosophy "practical Christianity"...
, an economic theory proposed by British engineer C. H. Douglas
C. H. Douglas
Major C. H. Douglas MIMechE, MIEE, , was a British engineer and pioneer of the Social Credit economic reform movement.-Education and engineering career:...
. Social credit held that the poverty of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
was in part the fault of bankers, who kept the cost of credit
Credit (finance)
Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
, and by extension of production, high. Aberhart's solution involved, among other things, monthly "credit dividends" to Albertans in the amount of C$25.
By 1937, Aberhart's failure to implement these dividends or make other progress towards implementing social credit made many of his backbencher
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
s suspect that he was either unwilling to do, or incapable of doing, so. This belief, combined with a suspicion that he didn't properly understand Douglas's theories, led to the 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt
1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt
The 1937 Social Credit backbenchers' revolt took place from March to June 1937 in the Canadian province of Alberta. It was a rebellion against Premier William Aberhart by a group of backbench members of the Legislative Assembly from his Social Credit League...
. One outcome of the revolt was Aberhart's ceding a number of the government's powers to the Social Credit Board, made up of five Social Credit backbenchers. Glenville MacLachlan, its chair, travelled to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
where he asked Douglas to come to Alberta and serve as its advisor. Douglas declined, but in his stead sent two of his lieutenants, L. D. Byrne and George Frederick Powell.
Alberta Liberal Party
The Alberta Liberal Party is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Originally founded in 1905, when the province was created, it was the dominant political party until 1921 when it was defeated. It has never been in government since that time...
and the Conservatives
Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta
The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta is a provincial centre-right party in the Canadian province of Alberta...
—began to cooperate under the auspices of the newly formed People's League
People's League (Alberta)
The People's League was a political organization in Alberta, Canada in the 1930s and 1940s. It was a coalition of groups opposed to Alberta's governing Social Credit League, primarily the Alberta Liberal Party and the Conservative Party of Alberta....
.
Leaflet
In October 1937, Conservative leader David Duggan rose in the Legislative Assembly of AlbertaLegislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is one of two components of the Legislature of Alberta, the other being the Queen, represented by the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta. The Alberta legislature meets in the Alberta Legislature Building in the provincial capital, Edmonton...
to draw its attention to a pamphlet distributed in and around the legislature building that called for his "extermination". The front of the leaflet read as follows:
My child, you should NEVER say hard or unkind things about Bankers' Toadies. God made snakes, slugs, snails and other creepy-crawly, treacherous, and poisonous things. NEVER, therefore, abuse them—just exterminate them! And to prevent all evasion demand the RESULT you want—$25.00 a month and a lower cost to live.
The back of the pamphlet listed nine men identified as "toadies". Besides Duggan, they were
- S. W. Field, lawyer and president of the People's League
- H. H. Parlee, lawyer and president of the Liberals' EdmontonEdmonton (provincial electoral district)Edmonton provincial electoral district existed in two incarnations from 1905 - 1909 and again from 1921 - 1955. The district was created when Alberta first became a province....
constituency association - John LymburnJohn LymburnJohn Farquhar Lymburn was a Canadian politician who served as Attorney-General of Alberta from 1926 until 1935. Born and educated in Scotland, he came to Canada in 1911 and practiced law in Edmonton. In 1925, John Edward Brownlee became Premier of Alberta, and sought a lawyer without partisan...
, lawyer, member of the People's League, and former Attorney-General of Alberta - H. R. Milner, lawyer and president of the Conservatives' Edmonton constituency association
- G. D. Hunt, investment broker
- L. Y. Cairns, lawyer, member of the Conservatives' provincial executive
- G. W. Auxier, lawyer and secretary of the People's League
- William Antrobus GriesbachWilliam Antrobus GriesbachMajor General William Antrobus Griesbach CB CMG DSO was a Canadian politician, decorated soldier, mayor of Edmonton, and member of the Canadian House of Commons and Senate of Canada.-Early life:...
, lawyer, member of the Canadian SenateCanadian SenateThe Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...
, and former member of the Canadian House of CommonsCanadian House of CommonsThe House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
and mayor of EdmontonEdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
Below this list of names were the words "Exterminate Them. And to prevent all Evasion, Demand the Result You Want—$25.00 a MONTH and a lower cost to live."
On October 3, the police raided the Social Credit League's Edmonton office and seized 4,000 copies of the pamphlet. Griesbach pressed charges against Powell and Social Credit whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
Joseph Unwin
Joseph Unwin
Joseph Henry Unwin was a provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada.-1935 election:Unwin ran as a candidate for the Alberta Social Credit Party in the 1935 Alberta general election...
for criminal libel and counselling to murder.
Trial
Aberhart, who besides being Premier was Attorney-General, tried to prevent the trial from proceeding by withdrawing the Crown prosecutorCrown Prosecutor
Crown Prosecutors are the public prosecutors in the legal system of Australia.Crown Prosecutors represent the Crown in right of the Commonwealth and in right of each State or Territory in criminal proceedings. Crown Prosecutors are appointed not elected and not public servants; they are private...
assigned to it. Either trial judge William Carlos Ives or a justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
countered by appointing a private prosecutor so the case could go ahead. Both defendants were held on $20,000 bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
.
On October 27, both men appeared before police magistrate A. H. Gibson for their preliminary hearing
Preliminary hearing
Within some criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecutor, to determine whether there is enough evidence to require a trial...
s on the criminal libel charge (the counselling to murder charge had been dropped). Unwin opted for a jury trial
Jury trial
A jury trial is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact which are then applied by a judge...
, while Powell chose to be tried by a judge alone. Unwin's trial proceeded first. He testified that he had ordered the pamphlets, which were paid for by the government, and then circulated them as a publication of the "United Democrats", a fictitious organization that listed its address as that of Unwin's home. According to Unwin, the leaflet's text, minus the named individuals, had been provided to him by Powell, he had sent it to the printer's in exactly that form, and he was surprised to see the names in the final version. Though his testimony was vague and apparently evasive, he admitted to destroying 4,000 copies of the leaflet on the day of the police raid. He was convicted and Ives, dismissing Unwin's role in the affair as that of an "errand boy", sentenced him to three months hard labour.
Powell's trial proceeded immediately after Unwin's, and his testimony contradicted much of what Unwin had said. Powell claimed that Unwin had put the list of names on the pamphlet, and that Powell had expected that it would list organizations rather than individuals. Ives found Unwin's testimony more credible, convicted Powell, and sentenced him to six months hard labour. He also recommended that he be deported following his sentence.
Aftermath
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
spokesman for the Communist Party of Canada
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
protested the arrests and called for a "united front" against the People's League. Aberhart maintained that the men had been jailed on the basis of some harmless political humour, and encouraged the federal government to grant them clemency; Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
responded that to do so would be to engage in "direct interference by the federal executive with the free and proper functioning of our courts". Some Social Crediters drove every night to the Fort Saskatchewan Penitentiary, where the men were being held, to show their support. On February 11, 1938, the legislature passed a resolution calling for the men's release.
Douglas reacted to his deputy's arrest with anger, telling reporters that "whoever is instigating the proceedings is asking for a great deal of trouble, and is likely to get it." On December 10, 1937, he wrote King to tell him that he had been invited to come to Alberta to provide advice, and asked if he would be risking arrest and deportation if he did so. King responded that as long as Douglas, unlike Powell, refrained from running afoul of the Criminal Code of Canada
Criminal Code of Canada
The Criminal Code or Code criminel is a law that codifies most criminal offences and procedures in Canada. Its official long title is "An Act respecting the criminal law"...
, he had nothing to fear.
At the end of Unwin's sentence, the Social Credit members of the legislature celebrated with a snake dance
Snake dance
Snake dance is a term used to refer to a parade before or during a high school or college homecoming event. The parade includes floats built by each high school class, marching bands, students, and alumni. Snake dance may also be more narrowly used to describe the student parade or a celebratory...
. Powell was released early, on March 21, 1938, in an attempt by King to bolster his Liberals' chances in a by-election in Edmonton East
Edmonton East
Edmonton East is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1917.The district includes a portion of the city of Edmonton.-Geography:...
the same day; the by-election was won by Social Crediter Orvis A. Kennedy
Orvis A. Kennedy
Orvis A. Kennedy was an executive, manager, organizer, salesman and a Canadian federal politician....
, and a jubilant celebration followed. Once again, the Communists expressed solidarity with the Social Crediters, with Jan Lakeman
Jan Lakeman
John "Jan" Lakeman was a mid 20th century Labour rights activist, perennial election candidate and former leader of the provincial Communist Party in Alberta, Canada.-Political career:...
thanking the voters for giving "an overwhelming defeat to the forces of reaction". Powell left Canada immediately upon his release, but not before being paid $4,000 by the Alberta government as thanks for his services.
On August 18, 1938, police magistrate A. H. Gibson, who had presided over the prosecution of Unwin and Powell, was dismissed without cause by Order in Council. Gibson believed that his dismissal was due to "the government's resentment over my action in the Powell-Unwin case and the fact that they hold me more or less to blame for the fact that the accused men were sent to jail." Aberhart's Social Crediters were re-elected with a reduced majority in the 1940 provincial election
Alberta general election, 1940
The Alberta general election of 1940 was the ninth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada, was held on March 21, 1940 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta....
; Aberhart remained premier until his 1943 death. Unwin was defeated in 1940 by Labour
Labour candidates and parties in Canada
There have been various groups in Canada that have nominated candidates under the label Labour Party or Independent Labour Party or other variations from the 1870s until the 1960s...
candidate Angus James Morrison
Angus James Morrison
Angus James Morrison was provincial-level politician in Alberta, Canada.Morrison was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1940 Alberta general election defeating incumbent Joseph Unwin in a hotly contested race...
. Though he lived until January 4, 1987, Unwin remains most remembered for his involvement in the Bankers' Toadies incident.