Chapter Twenty-Nine: Social Credit and Anti-Semitism

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

"The JEWISH RACE must yet acknowledge that the CHRIST who was crucified to the CROSS of Calvary was the SON of GOD, their MESSIAH. Until they will acknowledge that they must expect the curses of the world and can not expect the Blessings of GOD." William Aberhart (1)

The Social Credit philosophy was based almost entirely on the notion of a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world, inspired by the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It's founder Major Clifford Douglas preached that banks and indeed the entire monetary system was controlled by Jewish financiers, who were intent on destroying Gentiles.

However, many historian believe that Aberhart himself was not antisemitic, and yet he once stated:

Personally, I have little doubt that in working through Jews, the Jewish financial group has sacrificed its own people on the altar of its greed for power and this group is preeminently responsible for the poisonous anti-Semitism which is rampant in the world today. (2)

I don't think he was virulent, but it was there none the less. He often quoted Henry Ford and invited Father Coughlin and Oswald Mosley to write for his Social Credit newspaper. He even visited Coughlin his first year in office.

And the Social Credit Board had one of the largest libraries of anti-Semitic material in the country.

In 1943 when Ernest Manning had taken over on the death of Aberhart, the Social Credit Board, now tying Communism with Judaism, prepared a report, which said in part:

If international finance and socialism are travelling in the same direction is it possible that socialism is promoted by the money power to hasten the completion of their plot for world domination? Not only is it possible, but there is a fund of evidence which leads to the inevitable conclusion that there is a plot, worldwide in scope, deliberately engineered by a small number of ruthless international financiers. (2)

Manning would later purge the party of Douglasites (those who adhered to Douglas' policies and social credit principles, including anti-Semitism), but not for humanitarian reasons. Oil had been discovered in Alberta, and with the die hards still pushing for monetary reform, Manning was moving toward capitalism.

Sources:

1. Social Discredit: Anti-Semitism, Social Credit and the Jewish Response, Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press ISBN 0-7735-2010-4, Pg. 20

2. A Trust Betrayed: The Keegstra Affair, By: David Bercuson and Douglas Wertheimer, Doubleday Canada, 1985, ISBN: 0-385-25003-7, Pg. 34-38

Chapter Twenty-Seven Continued: The Dictator of Alberta

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

Though the appointment of Major Douglas's two lieutenants, George F. Powell and L.D. Byrne, was supposed to make the government more stable, they instead attempted to make it more radical.

They established the Social Credit Board and demanded that all MLAs sign an oath to back the government unconditionally, something unheard of in a democracy.

They also introduced three pieces of legislation that were so arbitrary that the media were convinced that Aberhart was attempting to run his government like the Gestapo. The political cartoonist, Stewart Cameron published an illustration depicting Aberhart burning down the Reichstag. Time Magazine saw it this way:

The first bill would force Alberta newspapers to give as much as one full page to presentation of the Government's views verbatim at any time upon demand, is entitled An Act Ensuring Publication of Accurate News and Information. The second would arbitrarily increase taxation of Alberta banks $2,000,000 per annum, and the third makes this possible by classifying "banks" as "credit institutions," thus making them liable to measures which under Dominion law could not be applied to them as banks. All three were so extraordinary that the King's Lieutenant-Governor refused to sign and sent the bills to Lord Tweedsmuir, the Governor General who in legal fiction is "the Person of the King in Canada." (1)

The bank act, known as the Credit of Alberta Regulation Act, required every bank and all their employees to be licensed by the provincial government and to be overseen by a Social Credit Board-appointed directorate. The Bank Employees Civil Right Act, prohibited unlicensed banks and their employees from initiating legal proceedings, and amendments to the Judicature Act prohibited court actions alleging that any of Alberta's legislation was unconstitutional. (2)

The Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta, John Campbell Bowen, had to give royal assent before the bills could be put into law:

A painful dilemma was faced last week by the representative of King George VI in the Province of Alberta, Lieut.-Governor J. C. Bowen. He was expected by Premier William ("Bible Bill") Aberhart to sign, as a formality, three bills just passed by the Legislature and designed to save the now economically shaky "Social Credit" regime in Alberta which pious radiorating Mr. Aberhart set up two years ago with promises to pay every citizen a monthly "dividend" of $25 (1)

Bowen asked the opinion of the Attorney-General, John Hugill, who stated that he believed the bills were unconstitutional, infuriating Aberhart and he demanded his resignation. He would then simply name himself Attorney-General, prompting more accusations of trying to run Alberta as a dictatorship.

The Accurate News and Information Act

This was the legislation pushed through by the Social Credit Board and William Aberhart, which was meant to silence the media, who were becoming increasingly critical of Aberhart's government.

The act empowered the chair of the Social Credit Board to require a newspaper to reveal the names and addresses of its sources, as well as the names and addresses of any writers, including of unsigned pieces. Non-compliance would result in fines of up to $1,000 per day, and prohibitions on the publishing of the offending newspaper, of stories by offending writers, or of information emanating from offending sources. The act also required newspapers to print, at the instruction of the chair of the Social Credit Board, any statement "which has for its object the correction or amplification of any statement relating to any policy or activity of the Government of the Province." (3)

The act was attacked by opposition politicians as evidence of the government's fascism, and the international press began to refer to Aberhart as "a little Hitler".

Bowen put a stop to the Accurate News and Information Act, referring the matter to the Supreme court. Aberhart retaliated by refusing to pay the traditional share of the Lieutenant-Governor’s expenses.

Meanwhile, the premier's battles with the media continued. On March 25, 1938, he ordered that Don Brown, a reporter for the Edmonton Journal, be jailed "during the pleasure of the assembly" for allegedly misquoting Social Credit backbencher John Lyle Robinson.

He was never actually jailed but the backlash was felt across the country. Eventually the Supreme Court of Canada determined that the Accurate News and Information went against the constitution and ordered it to be discontinued.

For his efforts at protecting free speech, Don Brown and the Edmonton Journal were awarded a bronze plaque from the Pulitzer Prize committee, the first time it honoured a non-American newspaper. And ninety-five other papers, including the Calgary Albertan, Edmonton Bulletin, Calgary Herald, Lethbridge Herald, and Medicine Hat News, were presented with engraved certificates. (4)

Now we have Aberhart's incarnate, Stephen Harper, doing the same thing, suppressing information, and Time Magazine (5) and others are warning Canadians of the severity of such a situation. But who will win a Pulitzer in Canada for putting an end to freedom of the press now?

Sources:

1. Bill's Bills, Time Magazine, October 18, 1937

2. Bible Bill: A Biography of William Aberhart, By: David R. Elliot and Iris Miller, Edmonton: Reidmore Books, 1987, Pg. 266-268

3. Elliot/Miller, 1987, Pg. 272-273

4. The Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of Social Credit in Alberta, By John J. Barr, McClelland and Stewart Limited, ISBN 077101015X, Pg. 112-113

5. Controlling The Message, By Steven Frank, Time Magazine, April 3, 2006

Chapter Twenty-Five Continued: Poets and Gesellites

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

The relationship between Major Douglas and William Aberhart was deteriorating and it was becoming clear that the new Alberta premier was over his head.

Douglas declined an invitation to come to Alberta to help straighten things out, partly because Aberhart refused to cover his expenses.

He really had no idea how to go about adopting Social Credit principles, so he sought the advice of Eugene Sydney Woodward, a former grocery store owner and alderman in Victoria, British Columbia. (1)

He was then living in Vancouver where he ardently studied the economic principles of Silvio Gesell. Woodward had also been in contact with the poet Ezra Pound, a devout social credit follower who offered to come to Alberta in Douglas's place. However, after hearing of the mess that Aberhart was making of things, he declined. (2)

One of Silvio Gesell's ideas was that money should depreciate the same way that goods do, and then people would be more encouraged to spend it, which would keep the economy going. And it was based on this notion, that the Alberta government began creating Prosperity certificates which were dubbed "funny money".

They began paying wages and overdue accounts with the paper money they had simply created, so that when the recipients took the certificates to the bank, they naturally wouldn't honour them.

The Alberta government had also defaulted on their bond and were being sued. They were forced to raise and create taxes, but were still in serious trouble.

Aberhart was also becoming more confrontational and irrational, refusing to deal with anyone. If they crossed him he attacked them on his radio program, and many in the religious community complained that his broadcasts had become almost exclusively political, interjecting government positions with scripture. He was out of control.

And his new 'scrip' system was creating chaos. Wholesalers and department stores refused to accept it though Aberhart did make a few concessions, allowing them to trade it for cash to pay out of province suppliers, and also allowed residents to pay their sales tax with it.

However MLAs were frustrated, because this had nothing to do with social credit principles. The principles they had campaigned on. But when one voiced his displeasure he was thrown out of caucus.

Several of the M.L.A.s got together and contacted Douglas to intervene, but he said he would only do so if Aberhart was removed from office. To quiet the dissent, Aberhart agreed to start a registration program for future dividends, that required citizens to sign a cove­nant ''to co-operate most heartily'' with the Alberta government. A second requirement was that citizens exchange their Canadian currency for "Alberta Credit" and that they make no claim upon the government that they be paid in Canadian currency for their "Alberta Credit," nor were they to use "Alberta Credit" in the pay­ment of taxes, licenses, or fines until the government changed its policy.

Along with the registration covenant, citizens had to complete other forms disclosing all of their assets, liabilities, sources of income, and other personal informa­tion. Special registration forms were designed for farmers and merchants; farmers had to sell 50 per cent of their produce in exchange for "Alberta Credit. Fine print on the forms indicated that in order to retain the right to obtain dividends, citizens would require the permission of the local manager of the State Credit House if they desired to leave the province for more than one month (3)

The authoritarian, even totalitarian overtones of this program brought immediate cries of "fascism" from many of Alberta's leading citizens. The "League of Freedom'' was formed by F. Sorry, an Edmonton bookstore-owner, to fight the proposed registration program, after he had been told by an M.L.A. that if he refused to sign, he could lose his business license.

"The Alberta Social Credit government proved to be a total failure so far as monetary reform was concerned ... He [Aberhart] revealed himself to be incompetent as an economic reformer, though a successful demagogue." (2)

Sources:

1. Eugene Sydney Woodward, 1880-1970, UBC Library, 1993

2. Pound in purgatory: from economic radicalism to anti-semitism, By Leon Surette,University of Illinois Press, 1999, ISBN-10: 0252024982, Pg 33-34

3. Bible Bill: A Biography of William Aberhart, By: David R. Elliot and Iris Miller, Edmonton: Reidmore Books, 1987, Pg. 243

Chapter Twenty-One: The Illuminati and Such

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

Personally, I have little doubt that in working through Jews, the Jewish financial group has sacrificed its own people on the altar of its greed for power and this group is preeminently responsible for the poisonous anti-Semitism which is rampant in the world today. William Aberhart (1)

While Social Credit was about monetary reform and creating a new economic model, it was also rooted in deep anti-Semitism and the notion of a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world.

This sentiment would increase as Social Credit became more popular and for several years would help to define the movement.

It embraced not only the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but also the Talmud Unmasked and Henry Ford's The International Jew.

And then as many members became more involved with this area of the movement, the Illuminati*, Freemasonry and the New World Order, also became part of their vernacular. So a brief history.

Adam Weshaupt and the Illuminati

Adam Weishaupt was born on February 6, 1748 in Ingolstadt, a city in Bavaria, into a Jewish orthodox family. However, they would eventually convert to the Roman Catholic faith and Adam was sent to a Jesuit monastery school for his education.

But he would later rebel against Jesuit discipline, and began to become interested in the occult, establishing a secret society for others with similar interests.

Their reported mandate was to transform the human race.
“Its members, pledged to obedience to their superiors, were divided into three main classes; the first including novices, minervals and lesser illuminati the second consisting,” like the Freemasons, of “ordinary, Scottish and Scottish Knights, and the third, or mystery class, comprising two grades of priest and regent, and of magus and king [Illuminatus Rex]." (2)

Every candidate had to give a written promise to tell nobody of this society. Their five goals in creating this New World Order were:

1. Abolition of monarchies and all ordered governments

2. Abolition of private property and inheritances

3. Abolition of patriotism and nationalism

4. Abolition of family life and the institution of marriage, and the establishment of communal education of children.

5. Abolition of all religion.

By drawing upon Europe's “best and brightest,” Adam was confident that the order could attain its goals. He wrote, “The pupils are convinced that the Order will rule the world. Every member therefore becomes a ruler. We all think of ourselves as qualified to rule. It is therefore an alluring thought both to good and bad men.

Therefore the Order will spread.” He also urged his followers not to shrink from committing violence or criminal acts in meeting Illuminati objectives, writing, “Sin is only that which is hurtful, and if the profit is greater than the damage, the leaders would rule the World with uncontrollable power, while all the rest would be employed as tools of the ambition of their unknown superiors”. “Proofs of a Conspiracy” was sent to George Washington who replied that he was aware that the Illuminati were in America and that they had “diabolical tenets”. (2)

That the secret society existed is indisputable. In fact when George Washington was advised that they were active in America, he claimed to be aware of them and acknowledged that they had "diabolical tenets".

They seem to have taken on new life, partly due to Dan Brown's novels, and there are many who link Bilderberg, Freemasonry and the Illuminati to a plan for a New World Order.

However, my only interest is in their historical context, and they did become part of the belief system of many Social Credit members.

Nesta Webster

Nesta Webster (1876-1960) was a member of Oswald Mosley's fascist party and a student of the Illuminati. She argued that the secret society's members were occultists, plotting communist world domination using the idea of a Jewish cabal, the Masons and Jesuits as a smokescreen.

She was also anti-Semitic once writing "What mysteries of iniquity would be revealed if the Jew, like the mole, did not make a point of working in the dark! Jews have never been more Jews than when we tried to make them men and citizens." (3)

In 1920, she wrote a series of articles published in the London Morning Post, entitled The Jewish Peril, centering on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and the French Revolution. These articles were later compiled in book form under the title The Cause of World Unrest, which became immensely popular. Even Winston Churchill read the book and stated: "This movement among the Jews ... This conspiracy against civilization dates from the days of Weishaupt ... as a modern historian Mrs. Webster has so ably shown, [played] a definitely recognisable part in the tragedy of the French Revolution"

Webster's writings would also help to form the basis of a book written by Major Clifford Douglas.

Major Douglas and the Big Idea

The Major's earliest belief was in "a very deeply laid and well developed plot of enslaving the industrial world to the German-American Jewish financiers." However, by the 1930s he no longer mentioned any German-American element, but wrote only of Jews.

He also began to publish a series of articles, later in book form, under the title The Big Idea, with the theme that the Jews had conspired to unleash the war and that both Germany and the Allies were serving the ends of "The Big Idea," or a Jewish conspiracy.

He saw World War II as "the war of the Old Testament against the New Testament, of anti-Christ against Christ." Two philosophies were "at death grips;" that of "world domination and the materialistic Messiah" and "individual freedom." This conspiracy of the Jews was only the latest in a long chain of events caused by them, stretching far back into history, according to Douglas. Their "shadow government" had brought about the Glorious Revolution in England, the American and French Revolutions and the Bolshevik Revolution, all of which had "tended to the advantage of Germany." Among other Douglas gems contained in the pamphlet were the following: "While all international financiers are not Jews, many are, and the observable policy of these Jews and Freemasonry is that of the Talmud;" "the most dangerous enemy of the British people has been a group of German-American Jews;"

"Hitler [was] the grandson of an illegitimate daughter of Baron Rothschild of Vienna;" "Admiral Canaris, head of German military intelligence, was a Jew named Moses Meyerbeer." Douglas cautioned his readers not to be fooled by the apparent anti-Semitism of the Nazis because Hitler was, in reality, following a "Talmudic Jew policy and philosophy."13 Such fantastic ravings seem beyond explanation.

Douglas based much of his Jewish conspiracy idea on the writings and research of Nesta Webster, daughter of a British Member of Parliament, mystic and hater of Jews, who published her work about the Jewish conspiracy in the early 1920s. (4)

And Douglas's work would be distributed by an agency of the Alberta government: the Alberta Social Credit Board.

Footnotes:

* James Keegstra, the Alberta school teacher who taught that the Holocaust was a hoax, was a firm believer that the Jews were working through the Illuminati to destroy Christianity and take over the world. (5)

Sources:

1. A Trust Betrayed: The Keegstra Affair, By: David Bercuson and Douglas Wertheimer, Doubleday Canada, 1985, ISBN: 0-385-25003-7, Pg 35

2. Adam Weishaupt, By: Joseph Trainor, Truth Seekers

3. New world order, old world anti-Semitism, The Christian Century, September 13, 1995

4. Bercuson/Wertheimer, 1985, Pg 32-33

5. Bercuson/Wertheimer, 1985, Pg. 60

Chapter Seventeen Continued: Getting in the Race

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

Once William Aberhart decided that he was going to form a Social Credit Party to contest the next election, he went at it with his usual gusto.

The campaign was described as something that Alberta had never seen before. There were Social Credit songs, poems, poetry contests, bake sales, more picnics and lots of campaigning.

A straw vote conducted before it's launch had favourable results, so they felt pretty good going in.

But rather than conduct this as a political move, they treated it like a crusade. This was the Reformation redux: "One of the finest amid greatest exponents of Social Credit was Jesus Christ himself. His one mission in life was to feed and clothe his people..." he wrote in the Social Credit Chronicle.

How could they fail if they Jesus on their side?

And he would use his radio broadcasts to make announcement regarding Social Credit policies, upcoming meetings or events, prompting one clergyman to write:

No other party in this election contest has used a church pulpit and cheap broadcasting time, cheap because it is supposed to be for religious purposes, to broadcast news and make announcements of political meetings, giving instructions to speakers and candidates, etc. Nor has any other political party in this election enveloped its political doctrines with the sing­ing of hymns and the praying of prayers and the building up of a Sunday School and a Back to the Bible movement. Nor has any of those contesting this election, excepting the leader of the new political party, imported a foreign evangelist to talk about the love of God for humanity in one sentence and then in the next cast aspersions on their political opponents suggesting that they were evil smelling, like nigger babies (so said the evangelist) and getting a laugh from an audience supposed to be assembled for religious worship.... What other political party in Canadian history ever descended to such base tactics ?(1)

But he just kept soldiering on:

The principles of the old-line politicians and their henchmen are like those of the man who betrayed the Christ. Gold was his god and millions have suffered because of it. The money changers upheld his right and crucified the Christ and they have been crucifying everyone since who follows in the steps of the Saviour.... Are conditions not similar today to those when the Master took a whip of small cords and drove the money changers out of the temple? Do not the common people need leaders and shepherds today, the same as in the days when the Christ had compassion on them and fed the 5000 with five loaves and two small fishes? The Easter message is a message of hope. There is deliverance. There is salvation. God can and will work even a miracle to bring his people into the place of joy and prosperity. Is that not a message for all believers in Social Credit."

And despite the fact that his opponents were also Christians, Aberhart clearly laid claim to the Bible, in all of it's misrepresentation. The Gospel according to William would prevail no matter what.

Chapter Seventeen Continued: A Divine Mission

Sources:

1. Bible Bill: A Biography of William Aberhart, By: David R. Elliot and Iris Miller, Edmonton: Reidmore Books, 19871.

Chapter Seventeen: Martians and Evil Bankers

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

From the time that William Aberhart first began building an interest in the Social Credit movement, he was also raising his profile in the province.

By 1935 there were sixteen hundred Social Credit clubs in Alberta and Aberhart's name had become a household word. And as he and his lieutenant, Ernest Manning, travelled from place to place speaking on the merits of the new system and against the evil banks, they were gathering quite a following.

But not everyone was sold on his theories, and while he was promising a way out of the depression, the media was beginning to ask where exactly the money was coming from.

So to combat the bad press, they just established their own newspaper, the Social Credit Chronicle.

Eva Reid became the circulation manager, as well as one of the reporters. The same Eva Reid who had boarded with the Aberharts for awhile and introduced Ernest Manning's future wife to the evils of dancing.

And if he wasn't able to alleviate the hardships, he could at least offer a break from them. Social Credit picnics, barbecues and rallies, were as frequent as the information sessions, so it would be hard not to get on board with something that at least provided hope. And of course all of these events were covered in the Social Credit Chronicle.

He also created Radio plays, which were little skits that attempted, not necessarily to explain the principles of Social Credit, because I don't think he really understood what they were, but simply to promote them.

A favourite character was the Man From Mars who had come to earth to learn about the system so that he could take it back with him to his planet so that all martians "could live in a happier and more orderly fashion".

In one of these radio plays, the Martian has a conversation with a banker:

I am very anxious to understand. You see, my perplexity is this: I find that you are very rich in goods. In fact you have so much that you wan­t only destroy your abundance. I am told that it is necessary to keep up prices. But at the same time I find that many of your people are suffering from poverty and starvation. Even little children cry for the food and clothing that your governments order destroyed. But their parents cannot buy the goods because they have no money. To get money they must work, but they cannot get work because you have invented wonderful machines to make your goods, so your people must starve in the midst of plenty. You are the manager of a bank – ah, yes! a bank – I understand that a bank is a financial institution empowered by the government to issue and control money. Therefore I ask you, sir, is there no way in which you can supply these people with money even though they cannot get work?

And of course the evil banker responds with things like: "I would like to know how the people would get on without our credit. It is time the public realized that it is dependent wholly upon us for its power to live" and "I am sorry that you have been influenced by the conditions of the idle loafers who are a blight to society. It's time we had another war and got rid of them."

Those bankers were clearly brutes, but they were not the only ones attacked by the radio skits. This would be pattern over the years, even after the Socreds were in power, to launch personal assaults.

Professor Elliot from the University of Alberta, who had spoke at the government's hearing on whether or not to adopt Douglas's theories, became Professor Orthodox Anonymous: "Ah, well, we expect economists are getting used to interviews. The common people seem so dense these days. Always blaming their troubles onto some imaginary defect in our tried and proven economic system. They make me tired. If it wasn't for the politicians distracting their attention by throwing dust in their eyes, they'd drive us crazy".

And to the Liberal leader who was hoping to cash in by also promising to adopt Social Credit, Aberhart called him, Jerry Bluffem, leader of the It's-Our-Turn-Next party. The Martian also paid him a visit: "I am afraid that you are wasting your time worrying about the future. Remember, after we are once in power, we will have the perfect right to cancel our whole program if we so desire. I am afraid that you would never make a good politician. You do not seem to realize that the public will vote for that which they think they want whether the ultimate outcome is going to be to their advantage or not. Our policy therefore is to promise the peo­ple what they think they want, and remember once more, when it comes to an election, every vote counts."

And when the UFA turned down the motion to adopt Social Credit, primarily because it was unconstitutional, Aberhart had a decision to make. He could quit now, knowing that he had fought the good fight, or he could do something about it.

He opted for the latter, and decided then that he would form his own party. He had his platform, his followers, his newspaper and radio, so this would be the next logical step. And that's how the Social Credit Party of Alberta was born.

Chapter Seventeen Continued: Getting in the Race

Sources:

Bible Bill: A Biography of William Aberhart, By: David R. Elliot and Iris Miller, Edmonton: Reidmore Books, 1987, Pg. 151-154

Chapter Fifteen Continued: From Out of the Rubble Steps a Saviour

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

While still engaged in radical fundamentalism, William Aberhart threw himself into Social Credit with a vengeance. If he could cure Alberta's financial woes, how could anyone doubt his spiritual powers?

Besides he genuinely cared, as he saw the effects of the depression on his students and their families.

So with Ernest Manning at his side, he travelled the countryside, speaking wherever they would listen. Soon social credit clubs sprang up everywhere, gaining support not just from those hardest hit, but from all levels of society.

This led to the formation of the Douglas Social Credit League.

And as this grassroots movement continued to grow, the UFA of Alberta, began to worry that William Aberhart might just ride the excitement into political power, if he decided to go that route. This was especially troubling since many members of the UFA had joined the League. (1)

So the government announced that they would hold a public inquiry and invited both Aberhart and Major Clifford Douglas to speak on the subject, hoping to put the matter to rest.

Wilson and Harry Southam of the Southam newspaper chain, had also become interested and helped to finance Douglas's visit. They had met him when he toured Canada in 1923, and would often visit the Major in London.

One of the biggest concerns was Aberhart's understanding of social credit principles. He had very little. He had published a yellow pamphlet, which to those who understood the economics; it was clear that he had either misinterpreted the system or simply ignored the elements he couldn't grasp, and filled them in with nonsense.

And there was a growing discomfort with the religious elements that he introduced to the system. Both Douglas and Maurice Colbourne, included Christianity in their books, but only in the context that Christian principles would not be in conflict and a monetary system that improved people's lives, was a noble and 'Christian' thing to do.

But for Aberhart and Manning, it was more like adding a few social credit principles into their fundamentalist, ultradispensationalist dogma, that would eventually become their party platform.

And when League member Larkham Collins wrote to Major Douglas expressing his concerns with the yellow pamphlet, Douglas dismissed them:

Mr. Aberhart's pamphlet is issued entirely upon his own authority, and I have regarded it merely as preliminary progaganda**, for which purpose it appears to have been effective... In view of your remarks, I have passed it on to the Publications Committee of the Social Credit Secretariat for analysis, as you will realise that it is physically impossible for me to deal personally with all the pamphlets which are reaching me from all quarters of the world." (2)

So Douglas may have realized that Aberhart and Manning had it all wrong, but they had the passion and means (through their radio program) to sell it.

Larkham was also concerned that the Canadian Constitution would not support Alberta going it alone. Douglas already had experience with the Canadian government, having made a presentation to a Parliamentary committee in 1923, but his response to this was puzzling.

In regard to the question as to the possibility or otherwise of instituting a Social Credit regime in Alberta, I think the shortest practical answer that I can give you is the one which I give to such questions everywhere, and that is, that the inauguration of a Social Credit system anywhere is really neither a theoretical nor an economic problem, but in the last resort, is a military problem. The present financial monopoly has devoted at least 100 years, if not more, to obtaining control of the ultimate sanctions of civilization, such as police and military forces, and so long as this control is maintained, the question as to whether it is legal to take certain steps for the breaking of the monopoly of credit is quite academic, since if it did happen to be legal, the law would unquestionably be altered to make it illegal.... The real task of the Social Credit army is not, I need hardly say, to raise a new military army, but to detach the existing forces from the possibility of use in such a situation. It is not an insoluble problem, but it is a very difficult one, and I should not like to give an off hand decision as to what extent a unit of the size of Alberta could act alone. (2)

Was he suggesting a military coup? It would certainly seem so.*

However, on the invitation by Alberta Premier William Brownlee, and some financial assistance from the Southam brothers, Clifford Douglas made his voyage to Canada, where he would address the legislature:

... the government at its spring Session convened the Agricultural Committee of the Legislature and invited Major Douglas, Mr. Aberhart and others to give evidence in support of the Social Credit cause. Major Douglas and Mr. Aberhart accepted the invitation, as did three other men not so well known to the public. One was Mr. Larkham Collins, chartered accountant, and Professor Elliott from the University of Alberta. Major Douglas himself appeared for two full days, April 6th and April 10th. The main result of these meetings was a firm resolve on the part of Social Credit supporters to continue unabatedly their organization, insisting that if neither of the parties represented in the Legislature would espouse the Social Credit cause, some other means would have to be devised to gain their ends. (1)

Knowing that there would be constitutional problems, Social Credit was not 'espoused', which meant that they would have to devise other means 'to gain their end'.

Pressure was being brought upon Mr. Aberhart by many Social Crediters to form a Social Credit party but this he resisted until he was left with no alternative. A "straw" vote was organized early in 1935 and volunteers went from door to door with ballots upon which qualified voters could declare themselves for or against Social Credit. The result was overwhelmingly in favor. (1)

There was going to be a party.

Chapter Fifteen Continued: Ernest and William

Footnotes:

* When Preston Manning and Stephen Harper were organizing the expansion of Reform into Ontario, they received several reports that some of the ridings had been infiltrated by radical who were spewing anti-semitism, among other things. But 'head office' informed them that it was their job to hand out pamphlets and sell memberships (preliminary propaganda), while Manning or Harper would handle the rest.

**The author of two of the most popular books ever written; Animal Farm and 1984; George Orwell; was an early fan of Social Credit. However, he would later dismiss it as fascism.

Sources:

1. 30+5 I know, I was There, A first-hand account of the workings and history of the Social Credit Government in Alberta, Canada 1935-68, by Alfred J Hooke, Douglas Social Credit Secretariat

2. Bible Bill: A Biography of William Aberhart, By: David R. Elliot and Iris Miller, Edmonton: Reidmore Books, 1987, Pg. 126

Chapter Fifteen: Salvation and Shakespeare

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings." Julius Ceasar By: William Shakespeare

In 1929 William Aberhart met a man by the name of Charles M. Scarborough, who first introduced him to the principles of Social Credit, as created by Major Clifford Douglas.

At first Aberhart ignored the books loaned him by Scarborough. No doubt this was in part because he would have had a great deal of difficulty grasping the complicated theories.

But since both men were school teachers, they met on an annual basis, while marking exams in Edmonton. Scarborough had heard Aberhart on the radio, and while he didn't ascribe to his radical Biblical interpretations, he felt that the man had the power and means to get the message out to the public.

"It struck me at the time," he has recorded, "that Aberhart would be the man who could launch an educational programme on monetary reform. Anyone hearing him in those days would certainly agree that he could sway his audiences. One could not help but recognize his dynamic personality and gift of oratory." (1)

But then the stock market crashed and Alberta was hit hard ,and Aberhart began to feel a sense of powerlessness. He still preached on a regular basis and elicited prayers on his radio broadcasts, but the situation only worsened. Then when one of his best students committed suicide, because of the effect that economic hardships had on his family, Aberhart began looking for more earthly solutions.

So when he met Scarborough again in July of 1932, he had a more open mind. And this time instead of discussing Douglas's books, Scarborough loaned him a copy of a simplified outline of Social Credit principles, written by the dramatic actor; Maurice Dale Colbourne: Employment or War. Together they discussed how he could work these theories into his radio broadcasts.

So without mentioning the term Social Credit, he approached the Prophetic Bible Institute's executive board, asking whether or not, given the current situation; they believed that economics would be a proper subject for inclusion in his Sunday lectures. They approved and Aberhart jumped in with both feet.

"Time to do Some Thinking! Every citizen of Canada should do some serious thinking regarding the present economic situation. To encourage this a series of lectures on the Bible and modern economics will be given at the Calgary Prophetic Bible Institute." (2)

What he offered his followers was a Utopian solution to a global problem; and the promise of salvation that would reap rewards in heaven and on earth. Even those who felt that his radio program was nothing more than the "rantings of a madman", listened and took up the cause.

No interest loans and cash dividends for every adult. What was not to like?

Chapter Fifteen Continued: Out of the Rubble Steps a Saviour

Sources:

1. The Social Credit Movement in Alberta, By: John A. Irving, University of Toronto Press, 1959, pg. 48

2. Bible Bill: A Biography of William Aberhart, By: David R. Elliot and Iris Miller, Edmonton: Reidmore Books, 1987, Pg. 106-108

Chapter Twenty Continued: Burning Bridges

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

After Social Credit's victory, Douglas had cabled Aberhart: "Congratulations. There will be others, but only one first." He responded by asking when he could come. But since Douglas was still under retainer with the Alberta government and had already met the terms of his contract for that year, he told Aberhart that he would need his expenses if he was to make a special trip.

The new premier ignored his request. There was already trouble brewing between the two, mainly because Aberhart had not really grasped the principles of Social Credit, but also over the religious element that he had added on his own.

As a political theory, Social Credit was presented as a "Way of Life", that could be compatible with both Christianity and democracy. But in Alberta under Aberhart, "... the philosophy was presented within a context of Christian fundamentalism and Bible prophecy that remained quite foreign, and indeed incomprehensible, to the mind of Douglas." (1)

By May of 1936, Major Douglas had had enough:

Last week Major Douglas had had enough of the farce which has been going on in the Canadian province of Alberta in the name of his Social Credit. Taking pen in hand, the Major resigned his $10,000 per annum job as Alberta's adviser, canceled his proposed voyage to oversee the setting up in Alberta of Social Credit. This tended to leave stranded the rotund, frog-eyed school principal and radiorating lay preacher William ("Bible Bill") Aberhart who won Alberta's last election and its Premiership by promising $25 per month in Social Credit to every bona fide citizen of the province. Premier Aberhart, whose detractors now derisively call him "Abie," spent the week getting off to Major Douglas pious cablegrams urging him to reconsider. (2)

Douglas would not be the first or last to become disillusioned with William Aberhart. The man who had toured him around the United States and who had introduced him to Father Coughlin, Herbert Brougham, also lost faith with the man.

Brougham, who has been called the first Douglasite of the United States, was a friend of President Woodrow Wilson, with connections that could have helped immensely. He was also part of a group behind a bill in support of Social Credit, and would have been invaluable:

Congressman T. Alan Goldsborough (D., Md.) in August 1935, sponsored the first bill embodying Social Credit principles to be introduced in any legislative body in the United States. This was largely in the form drafted by a committee of the New Economics Group of New York consisting of Allan R. Brown, Edward F. Harvey, W. A. Nyland, Carle C. Conway, Jr., and H. B. Brougham. Its short title was the "National Income and Credit Issue Bill" introduced on August 22 and, as Brougham wrote in New Democracy, embodying "the tenets of Douglas without any frills. The bill presents straight out Social Credit measures." It would establish the National Credit Account, defined in Title I as "the money valuation of the annual unused capacity of the industries and people of the United States to produce wanted goods and services." The Treasury would produce non-interest bearing credit certificates, not to exceed the National Credit Account, "to circulate as money throughout the banking system only." These certificates would finance a discount on prices to consumers at retail.

They would also provide a national per capita consumers dividend of $5.00 a month. This consumers' dividend and other features of the bill would be administered by an independent regulatory agency called the Federal Credit Commission. Should the Commission records show an unduly expanded monetary condition then a Credit Retirement Fund would set aside a portion of national revenues to retire Treasury credit certificates. The bill was discussed and analyzed at length in New Democracy, advocated by the League for National Dividends and, with Goldsborough as the ranking member of the House Committee on Banking and Currency, there were brief hearings on H.R. 9216 in the 74th Congress. On this occasion, Paul Hampden testified for the Social Credit bill at the invitation of Goldsborough. The bill lapsed at the end of the 1936 session. (3)

While in the U.S. Aberhart gave Brougham the opinion that he wanted his help, but when he arrived in Edmonton, he was given the cold shoulder. Aberhart denied having made any promises but documentation proved otherwise.

Burning bridges had become part of a pattern.

Chapter Twenty-One: The Illuminati and Such

Sources:

1. The Social Credit Movement in Alberta, By: John A. Irving, University of Toronto Press, 1959, Pg. 7

2. Master Madness, Time Magazine, March 16, 1936

3. GOLDSBOROUGH SOCIAL CREDIT BILL, H.R. 9216, 74th CONGRESS, 1935-1936, Special Collections and Archives, Olin Library, Wesleyan University