The PRAIRIE POPULIST The PRAIRIE POPULIST George Hara Williams and the Untold Story of the CCF An Essay on Radical Leadership in a Time of Crisis and the Victory of Socialist Agrarian Populism, 1921–1944 J.F. CONWAY © 2018 John F. Conway All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means — graphic, electronic, or mechanical — without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or placement in information storage and retrieval systems of any sort shall be directed in writing to Access Copyright. Printed and bound in Canada at Marquis. The text of this book is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper with earth-friendly vegetable-based inks. Cover design: Duncan Campbell, University of Regina Press Text design: John van der Woude, jvdw Designs Copy editor: Alison Jacques Proofreader: Kristine Douaud Indexer: Patricia Furdek Cover art: “Vintage Farmer Person 1930’s Old Man Smoking Hat.” Licensed under cc0 1.0 Universal (cc0 1.0), public domain. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Conway, John Frederick, author The prairie populist : George Hara Williams and the untold story of the ccf : an essay on radical leadership in a time of crisis and the victory of socialist agrarian populism, 1921-1944 / J.F. Conway. Includes bibliographical references and index. Issued in print and electronic formats. isbn 978-0-88977-545-9 (softcover). —isbn 978-0-88977-546-6 (pdf).—isbn 978-0- 88977-547-3 (html) 1. Williams, G. H. (George Hara), 1894-1945. 2. Politicians —Saskatchewan— Biography. 3. Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. 4. Populism—Saskatchewan— History—20th century. 5. Socialism—Saskatchewan—History—20th century. 6. Saskatchewan—Politics and government—1905-1929. 7. Saskatchewan—Politics and government—1934-1944. 8. Biographies. I. Title. fc3522.1.w546c66 2018 971.24'02 c2018-900968-3 c2018-900969-1 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 University of Regina Press, University of Regina Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, s4s 0a2 tel: (306) 585-4758 fax: (306) 585-4699 web: www.uofrpress.ca We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. / Nous reconnaissons l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada. This publication was made possible with support from Creative Saskatchewan’s Creative Industries Production Grant Program. Dedicated to Muriel Wiens and Friedrich Steininger, who kept the story of George Hara Williams alive. A great man is great, not in his personal features lending an individual complexion to historic events, but in his posses- sion of traits which make him the most capable of serving his time’s great social needs, which have arisen under the influence of general and particular causes. . . . A great man is precisely great because he sees farther than others do and his desires are stronger than in others. . . . [H]e indicates the new social needs created by the previous development of social relations; he assumes the initiative in meeting those needs. . . . Therein lie all his significance, all his power. But it is a vast significance, and an awesome power. — G. V. Plekhanov, On the Question of the Individual’s Role in History (1898) Social science deals with problems of biography, of history, and of their intersections within social structures. — C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination (1959) TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Photographs xi Author’s Note xiii Preface xv Acknowledgments xix Prologue George Hara Williams: A Word Portrait xxi Part I. Introduction Chapter 1 George Hara Williams: Roots to 1921 3 Chapter 2 The Political and Economic Context: The Rise of the United Farmers of Canada (Saskatchewan Section), 1922 to 1926 17 Part II. The Drive for Power Chapter 3 Leading the Farmers into Politics: 1926 to 1931 51 Chapter 4 Building the ccf: Leadership Lost and Regained, 1931 to 1936 91 Chapter 5 Building the ccf: Defeating Social Credit, 1936 to 1938 139 x Table of Contents Part III. The Fall of Williams Chapter 6 Fighting the War in the ccf and in Europe: 1937 to 1944 169 Chapter 7 Endgame: The 1944 Election 201 Part IV. Williams in Canadian History Chapter 8 The Shame of the Intellectuals 217 Chapter 9 Conclusion: Williams in Canadian History 245 Afterword 259 Chronology 261 Abbreviations 269 Notes 271 Bibliographic Notes 295 Bibliography 313 Index 325