For many years the I.W.W. and other radicals
have carried on an active campaign in the camps. Paid agents of these
extremists present "red" viewpoints and cause trouble by their
insidious talk. Thoroughly familiar with all phases of their subject, they
often cause discomfiture to the man daring to question their theories. They
take a pride in carefully schooling willing converts. These agents or teachers
of perverted forms of socialism are in hundreds of camps. They have money and
are well supplied with literature. They openly flaunt their propaganda and defy
authority. Discontent, strikes and worse evils follow in their train. They also
forward to the camps at which they work and near-by camps all sorts of
"red" literature, such as "The Clarion",
"Federationist," etc. I have been in camps where the only literature
one could find was the fiery pamphlets and papers of "red"
propagandists.
The whole thing is indicative of changing social conditions. Not
all of it can be combatted, but at least it can be properly channeled and the
rampage not allowed to go wholly unchecked. It is not at all surprising that
the "red" flourishes in the camps. I have always contended that the
soil there is exactly in the right condition for "red" seed. Neither
the state nor the church has preempted and cultivated that ground. In pamphlets
and lectures the Frontier College has always advocated that educational and
welfare work should be carried on at all camps and works. The true remedy is
the right type of instructor with the aid of books, magazines, papers, games
and music.83
Similarly, Bradwin argues that education of immigrant workers as conducted
by a "trained mind" (e.g. a university student) can counter the
influence of radicals:
Where is more required the mental stimulus of the trained mind
than among the scores of men in a bunkhouse, or with the inmates of a string of
cars in an extra-gang on the siding? Men sit nightly in such groups reading
with avidity, by the glimmer of a candle stuck in a bottle, or from the light
of a borrowed lantern whose cracked globe has been patched with flour and
paper, pamphlets and circulars cooked to inflame, not tempered with saneness.
Only the influences closest at hand most determine whether there is evolved a
Lincoln or a Lenin....Help him shun the bypaths of sudden change and traverse
the highway of saner progress. Education is still the sheet anchor of any
peaceful commonwealth.84
In summary, -in spite of progressive sub-themes in their views (which
responded to the immense social needs of immigrants), the dominant message of
immigrant educators was a conservative one, addressed to the self-interests of
dominant political and economic elites: either sponsor immigrant education,
including literacy and language training, as a means of helping immigrants to
understand and embrace dominant values, institutions and lifestyles, or see
them become increasingly disaffected and prone to radical solutions for their
problems. This perspective can be called "literacy for
Canadianization", and has been dominant during times of heavy immigration
to Canada, from the early 1900's through the 1950's. 85
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