“Convicts Celebrated May Day With Songs,” Kingston Whig-Standard. May 2, 1933. Page 3. ---- Could Be Heard Very Distinctly by Those Outside the Walls ---- Hooting, shouting and singing popular songs with a gusto that made their voices clearly heard by passersby on the road, convicts of the Kingston Penitentiary, quartered in the new female prison, had their little private May Day celebration last night. Till after nine o'clock the convicts demonstrated their vocal propensities.

"We Want Nickle!” was heard more  than once by persons passing the prison. This referred to the counsel for several of the convicts charged with rioting, who was successful in having the only convict, whose trial is concluded, acquitted on the charge.

Around nine o'clock when it could be noticed that the convicts were getting tired of their own noise, strains which sounded very much like "Try A Little Tenderness" drifted out to those who were listening from the Prison Road and other popular songs were sung. A little later the convicts decided to sleep and called it a day.

Warden W. B. Megloughlin, when spoken to regarding the incident, said that apparently the convicts were celebrating May Day, but except for the noise the prison routine, was undisturbed. The convicts were all in their cells and when they got tired celebrating they went to sleep.

I don’t particularly like self-promotion or talking about myself, but with the 90th anniversary of this event coming up, I should really post about this. I am nervous/excited to announce my article, “If You Want Anything, You Have To Fight For It: Prisoner Strikes at Kingston Penitentiary, 1932-1935″ was published in the Canadian history journal Labour / Le Travail earlier this year.

Link: https://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/view/6150.

If anyone reading this wants a PDF copy, I can arrange that - please send me an ask! By May 2023 it will no longer be paywalled and will be free to read for everyone and anyone.

The article is about the strikes and riot that took place at Kingston Penitentiary, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between October 17-20, 1932. I was lucky enough to be able to consult sources that have never been used before, including thousands of pages of interviews, manifestos, letters, and petitions written by those incarcerated at Kingston Penitentiary. The article focuses on:

- the conditions and organization of the Kingston penitentiary in the early 1930s - how prisoners organized the strike, by writing manifestos and debating tactics in the workshops and cellblocks of the penitentiary - the ideology and demands of the revolts, including the prisoner’s focus on ending corporal punishment, ending what they called “slavery” (forced labour), resisting the arbitrary “despotism” of guards and the warden, and creating an inmate committee to run the prison  - the prisoner struggles that took place in the years after the riot to enforce the demands made in October 1932

I also tried, and hopefully succeeded, in placing this prison riot as part of the broader upsurge of protest by the unemployed, impoverished and marginalized in 1930s Canada (instead of treating it in isolation, as often happens with studies of prisoner rebellion). I’ve been researching this topic for a long time so it's nice to see something finally coming together. I hope you find it interesting. Share, if you wish!

"MOTHERS' THANKS EARNED BY BUCK WITNESS THINKS," Toronto Star. July 4, 1933. Page 1 & 2. ---- Many Should Be Grateful to Communist Leader for Acts in Riot, Court Told --- ADVISED CONVICTS ---- Accused Man Accepts Deputy Warden's Explanation of "Ruse" ---- Special to The Star Kingston, July 4. - Leg-shackled, in pairs, fourteen convicts came to the court house here this morning to bear witness in the defence of Tim Buck and Adrian Vandergayt, convicts accused of rioting last October at Kingston penitentiary. Buck, who is being tried by Judge G. E. Deroche, is defending himself. He called Anthony Becker as his second witness. Becker was employed at the blacksmith shop on the day of the riot. He said that on seeing a gang of men descend to the ground from the tailor shop, via a scaffold, he had pulled the switch controlling the power in the shop. "What made you pull the switch?" asked Buck. "I pulled it impulsively," explained Becker. Buck had come to the guards and told them in a respectful manner to go to the mail bag rooms, witness said. In the mail-bag room Becker said he had seen Garceau and Behan make speeches. Buck Didn't Speak "If I had made a speech you wouldh ave heard it?" "Yes." T. J. Rigney, K.C., for the crown asked Becker how far Buck had been from the switch when it was pulled. "About 30 feet," witness said. "What was the reason you pulled the switch?" "I saw men coming.from the tailor shop so I walked over and pulled the switch." "What has the men coming down the scaffold to do with the pulling of the switch?" "I had heard rumors." Mr. Rigney pressed for an answer as to the connection. Buck objected, saying that in his estimation the question had been answered.

Mr. Rigney wanted to know what witness would do if he saw a horse coming down the street. "Well," drawled the witness, "it all depends on the horse - " he broke off laughing. The court also laughed, and Mr. Rigney changed his line of questioning.

Becker said that Buck had come into the blacksmith shop and he had asked where he was going. Buck said he was going to tell the officers to go to the mail-bag room where they would be safer.

"Was there anyone else there when Buck spoke to you?" "No, just the two of us," replied Becker. Spoke to Officers Buck had then gone to the officers and communicated his wish for their safety. The officers had spoken regarding changing their clothes, and Buck had told them they could do as they liked, witness stated.

One of the officers had changed his clothes, and the three had left to go upstairs to the mail-bag room.

After the departure of the officers Buck and witness had walked slowly along the hallway and eventually they came to the mail-bag shop, he recalled.

Becker said that Buck did not make a speech in the mail-bag shop.

"You're positive of that?" "Buck did not make a speech in the mail-bag room," said Becker in a firm voice.

Buck complained to the court that he had been taken to the north gate at 7.30 this morning to see Mr. Nickle, who is assisting him with his defence.

"They told me Mr. Nickle had telephoned that he wanted to see me there. I was kept there without breakfast until I was brought here. Mr. Nickle now tells me that he did not telephone.

"I have had no chance to see my witnesses because of this ruse and I would like an adjournment for a few minutes in order to do so. And also to get some breakfast."

An adjournment for 15 minutes was ordered by the court and arrangements were made by Sheriff R. F. Vair to have some breakfast brought to Buck.

A Misunderstanding On the resumption of court, Judge Deroche told Buck that Deputy Warden George Sullivan had explained the circumstances of the ruse.

"It was clearly a misunderstanding." stated he.

"I think it was your honor," commented Buck.

One of the men who some years ago escaped with "Red" Ryan and others, Thomas "Shorty" Bryans, was the next witness called by Buck. Bryans hobbled to the stand with the aid of crutches. Buck asked that the witness be allowed to sit down and permission was given.

Bryans said that he had heard rumors of an impending demonstration and that when the motor stopped he thought it was a signal. He had gone to the dome where Buck, Garceau and others had talked.

Buck had stated that Deputy Warden Walsh had asked him to speak to the men. Garceau, he said, had spoken to the men, telling them that he understood the boys were out for reform and better conditions.

Sam Behan, who was acquitted on Saturday, had spoken about "unity and one for all, all for one," said witness.

"Who said that?" asked Buck. "Sam Behan did."

He recalled that Buck had stooda round during the demonstration but had not spoken until after the warden had made a speech. Buck then told the men that the soldiers would not harm them as long as they kept calm and did no violence.

"You then advised them to collect water because you said the place was a fire trap." asserted Bryans.

Unsolicited, Bryans sald: "There are women and children in Kingston, in fact, in Canada, who should he grateful for what Tim Buck did that day."

"What do you mean?" inquired Buck. "Well, what you did to keep the thing quiet and peaceful," eplained Bryans.

Can't Tell of Bloodshed Mr. Rigney asked witness what he meant by the statement regarding the gratitude of the mothers and children of Canada.

"Well, for the speeches they made - and the way they put things over."

Buck wanted Bryans to elaborate on this but when witness started to tell about prison riots he had been in and the amount of bloodshed there had been the court objected.

Three speeches had been made in the dome, said Wm. McKenzie, another convict, by Garceau, Behan and Warden Smith. After the warden's speech Buck had spoken but witness was unable to say what time had elapsed. Buck, in his speech, had told the men that the warden had telephoned for troops but that they should feel no alarm as long as they behaved themselves, said McKenzie.

Went for His Cake The next witness, Clifford Hines, stood in the box and answered the questions with contrasting flashes of white teeth against the dark background of his face.

Buck asked who had pulled the motor switch. "Is it necessary that I say who it was?" asked Hines. "The man in question is quite wiling that you should," advised Buck.

"It was Becker," answered witness.

Hines said he was positive it was Sam Behan who had made the statement "One for all. All for one."

Buck had warned the men not to act violently and therefore they would come to no harm. This speech had a quietening effect on the men, Hines claimed.

Hines said he had returned to the blacksmith shop to retrieve a piece of cake which he had left there, in case of a siege.

"Are you suggesting there are thieves in the penitentiary?" asked Buck. "Yes, I knew there were some." "Did you get your cake?" "Oh yes. It was there all right," answered witness, with a broad white smile. The court smiled with him.

To Our 8 Foremost Leaders and Comrades: The Eight in Kingston --Tim Buck, Ton Ewen, Malcom Bruce, Sam Cr, Tom Hill, Matt Popowtich, John Boychuk, Tom Cacic. We greet you on the eve of May Day 1933, from the midst of great struggles of labor, on the eve of great battles of the working class and toilers of Canada. We are striving to hold high the banner of labor, striving to advance the aims and cause of labor for which you all wo valiantly fought, and for which you were out into jail. We pledge to carry on our struggle, fighting at the same time to spend the day when you'll be back in our ranks to lead and carry on our great struggles for working class emancipation. May day Greetings comrades, our best leader Women's Labor League of Timmins.

[Letter from the Women’s Labor League organization, a Communist Party of Canada organization set up when the latter party was outlawed in 1932, sending May Day wishes, in a form letter, to the incarcerated Communists at Kingston Penitentiary. This was one letter of thousands sent to Kingston Penitentiary between 1932 and 1934.]

“TO SEND "JURY" TO TIM BUCK'S TRIAL IN JUNE,” Kingston Whig-Standard. March 27, 1933. Page 11. ---- Toronto Organization Demands Release of Convicted Communist ---- TORONTO, March 27 - Meeting for the declared intention of securing the release of Tim Buck from Kingston Penitentiary, and the seven men sentenced with him under Section 98 of the Criminal Code, a hundred men and women gathered in Don Hall Sunday morning. 

Because police had interfered with attempts to rent halls in the city, the organization, which calls itself the "Toronto Mass Labor Conference to Stop the Frame-Up on Tim Buck," met just outside the jurisdiction of the city police, in Don Hall on Broadway Avenue north of Danforth. An active campaign is being planned, to be pushed between now and June when Buck is due to come up for trial in Kingston on charges arising out of the penitentiary riots last October. 

The organization plans to send a "workers' jury" of 12 men to Kingston for Tim Buck's trial, "to see what goes on." It is planned to organize "conferences" throughout Ontario in the larger centres. A delegation is to be sent to Ottawa to place the organization's demands before Hon. Hugh Guthrie, Minister of Justice. The organization is planning to circulate petitions and promote a large mass meeting. A campaign for funds includes the printing and selling at five cents each of stamps, each. bearing a picture of Tim Buck. 

Beckie Buhay, organization secretary of the Canadian Labor Defence League, spoke at length in connection: with the campaign. The chairman was T. J. Simons, secretary of the Toronto Labor party and also secretary of the organization working to free Tim Buck. 

Some 50,000 pamphlets headed "Stop the Frame-Up on Tim Buck." and containing the organization's demands and allegations have been printed and are to be circulated among laborers. Four printed demands are as follows: "1. The rescinding of the indictment against Tim Buck. 2. That there be no secret trials and punishments in the Kingston Penitentiary. 3. That a public. Inquiry of elected workers and progressive elements be held at which Tim Buck and all others will be allowed to testify. 4. That political prisoners in the Canadian falls be given preferential treatment with full rights to keep in touch with the labor. movement. This objective can be attained by united, support, action and mass pressure by all who are against political reaction and the Iron Heel policy of the Bennett Government Free Tim Buck and his second comrades."

“JUDGE DECLARES POLICE CONDUCT PROVOKED MEN,” Kingston Whig-Standard. October 27, 1932. Page 1. ---- Acquits Six on Charges Unlawful Assembly, Riot, and Assault ---- SCORES PENAL SYSTEM ---- WINNIPEG, Oct. 27 - Judge L. St. G. Stubbs, in County Court yesterday, delivered a verdict acquitting six men of charges of unlawful assembly, riot and aggravated assault. They are: Samuel Barber, Steve Horbul, James Spinvolov, James Collin, Jared Liddle, and David Rousen.

 The Judge said that although all six were acquitted "five of them could no doubt - on strict technical construction of the law be considered guilty: but in the circumstances of this case, in view of the arbitrary and provocative conduct of the police, and the fact that as much wrongdoing has been established on their part as on that of the accused, I feel that justice does not require strict technical construction of the law and that they ought not to be declared guilty and branded as criminals tor the rest of their lives." 

Honorable Acquittal Judge Stubbs placed David Rousen in a different category from the other five, wholly exonerating him from any complicity in the offenses with which he was charged and according him an honorable acquittal and discharge because of evidence that established that Rousen had not been near the Wellwood Box Factory in Elmwood when police clashed with strike sympathisers and arrested the other five men. 

Regarding the other five, the Judge said: "Even if they were found guilty and sentence suspended, they would have a conviction recorded against them, to follow them to the ends of the earth if they were sent to a penal institution. Being working men they would receive no ‘preferred Class' or preferential penitentiary treatment but would feel the full rigor and severity of our antiquated barbarous and unscientific penal system. 

“I do not believe the accused were actuated by any criminal intentions in what they did and honestly feel the ends of true Justice will be best served by acquitting them. I therefore find them not guilty and discharge them from custody," he said.

[AL: Stubbs is a notorious and fascinating character, a ‘Red’ on the bench who alone among judges sided consistently with workers and accused against the police and state.]

"THE FACTS ARE SHOCKING." Toronto Globe. August 26, 1933. Page 4. ---- The numerous letters appearing on this page today dealing with the penitentiary situation - following the series published a few days ago offer further evidence of the deep interest aroused by Dr. Withrow's articles.

Some of the correspondence reveals deep feeling. The disclosures have proved shocking. It was not thought possible that human beings could be so treated in a civilized country, or that a system of prison administration in this enlightened day could be founded on such repressive methods. Mr. Austin Campbell, who is relating his Kingston experiences in Maclean's Magazine, touches on the vital point of the whole situation in his letter when he states that silence inside the penitentiary walls "has broken the spirit and warped the characters of the inmates," and the unfortunate public silence outside "has deceived the public."

The public has not known, has had no chance to know, what was going on. Convicts, as a rule, do not speak of their experiences when they get into the open world again, and are seldom believed when they do complain. The recent Kingston trials, following the riots, brought the first effective intimation of conditions. Dr. Withrow's restrained recital of events is filling in the background and throwing the whole state of affairs into a perspective that can be appreciated. At last the public is being informed.

The long-standing, darkness that has covered the penitentiaries is responsible for the accumulation of evils. The law operates through well-administered courts of Justice up to the prison gates. The prisoner is considered innocent until proved guilty. He is given every opportunity to defend himself. Once he passes behind the grim walls, all this changes. Apparently the assumption is that he is guilty all the time. He has no opportunity for defense. His simple wishes make his record more damnable in the eyes of officialdom. He is established in a reign of terror, maintained for the specific purpose of humiliating him and making his least act count against him. The courts give serious consideration to the use of the lash. In the penitentiary the paddle is a weapon of revenge. The court does not prescribe the paddle or "the hole." This is done by autocratic officials who assume the prisoner is guilty. Even a postcard is withheld until the term is served, and religious services are a part of the penalizing routine.

The public has not known these things, or there would have been protests amounting to a revolution. Why it has been considered necessary to surround penitentiaries with rigid exclusiveness and leave the administration solely to the judgment of officials, who build their own system, establish their own methods, lay down their own policies and laws, is not at all clear. If all officials, guards and other employees were far above the average in the understanding of human nature and were devoted to ideals beyond the capacity of the ordinary person there might be some excuse for leaving everything with them. But it is seen that the fate of hundreds of prisoners lies hourly in the hands of men whose motives and methods shock the country when brought to light.

The penitentiary is virtually the only public institution with ways that are secret and hidden from public knowledge. The county jail is visited by Grand Juries, upon direction of trial Judges, that it may be inspected and that recommendations may be made for improvements. Public hospitals are visited. So are orphanages, old-age homes, asylums, and other institutions under public jurisdiction. True, penitentiaries are in a different class, but their administration is a public responsibility. The public has vital concern in the results. Yet the policy and the instructions, The Globe is informed, require that the public be kept in ignorance. It would be enlightening, even, to learn whether the Minister of Justice, directly responsible makes a practice of visiting and inspecting these places and has any source of intimate information by which to acquaint himself with what is going on.

The public has not known, but is learning rapidly. And the reaction is what might be expected. The truth is alarming, but only through realization of the facts can the needed reforms be secured. A full investigation by competent authority must come next and if the duties are performed properly penitentiary facts in future years will not be so startling.

"TIM BUCK IS GUILTY IN KINGSTON TRIAL: SENTENCE DEFERRED," Toronto Globe. July 7, 1933. Page 1 & 4. ----- Judge Says He Will Not Impose Maximum Punishment ---- DEFENSE COMPLIMENTED --- (Canadian Press Despatch.) Kingston, July 6 - Tim Buck, former leader of the Communist Party in Canada, was convicted today of unlawful assembly during disturbances last October, and was returned to his prison cell to await sentence on July 18. In convicting Buck, Judge G. E. Deroche said he could impose a maximum of seven years, but said he had no intention of doing so.

The diminutive radical returned to his cell, complimented on his efforts "as a lawyer, despite his unsuccessful battle to clear himself of the charges. "Your address," said a Judge, "was magnificent. You spoke for two and a half hours, but all the time you were interesting and logical. You made no extreme statements."

The Judge reviewed at great length the evidence produced both by defense and the Crown prosecutor, adding that he was quite satisfied there was a riot and Buck was a member of the unlawful assembly.

Word to Ottawa. The accused, through numerous convict witnesses, attempted to show there had been no riot, and that there had been no violence shown by the men, who, he said, were merely stag a justified demonstration against prison conditions. If word had been sent to Ottawa, instead of to the barracks, when the men left their work, there wouldn't have been much confusion, it was contended.

The only reason he had joined in the demonstration, Buck submitted, was he otherwise would have been considered a "rat"

"That seems to be something to his credit," the Judge commented, "but, of course, it is something the law cannot excuse."

Other convicts testified Buck had spoken to the prisoners milling about the buildings and had pacified to some extent their anger. Others had spoken, they said, and Buck was chosen to address the men merely because of his reputation as a speaker.

Not an Instigator. Judge Deroche said he did not believe the accused had shut off the motor in his workshop, as claimed by guards and keepers. He further said there was no evidence to show Buck was the instigator of the assembly which developed into a riot of which the Judge considered there was evidence. It probably was intended for a peaceful demonstration, he said, bus eventually it became very noisy, and damage had been done to prison property through burning locks off doors. However, he did not consider it had been as serious as portrayed in news-papers and through conversations.

"He was part of rioting crowd," the Judge concluded, "and he pleaded he either had. to take part or be a 'rat." Meanwhile, in another court, Frank Regan, K.C., charged Convict Mickey McDonald was indicted for his part in the riot because of private trouble he had with Guard Neddow. He also claimed the Crown Prosecutor had threatened to "go after the accused." Following the trial of Buck, George Peters was placed on trial on a charge of rioting and doing damage. He pleaded not guilty, and proceeded to conduct his own case. Keeper George Nolan and Instructors Dunford and Whiteland had been called as witnesses when court adjourned.

Frank Regan, K.C., counsel for McDonald, requested General D. M. Ormond, Superintendent of Penitentiaries, be called as a witness. Judge Madden said Convict McRae had asked for Hon. Hugh Gathrie, Minister of Justice; Inspector Gilbert Smith, ex-Warden J. C. Ponsford and others to be called, but his request had been refused, because such evidence would make an investigation of the internal administration of the prison, and this was not the purpose of the trial. Judge Madden refused Mr. Regan's request.

Desire for Referm. In his defense, Convict Buck spoke of the feeling among the men in the penitentiary, their desire for reform, and their efforts for a change in the institution. It was not a spirit of destruction or riot. "In most of them." he said, "It was the only way to draw attention to their grievances, the entire atmosphere. Inside those walls you're within a world inside a world; it has every thing except its own hopes. I had men in the box who had never been in court before sent to the penitentiary; men as good as the average man. They got to feel there is no hope, more or less conflicted with criminal psychology. No man can live there, subjected constantly to the grapevine system - an everlasting struggle between the rats and the men. The fuel for the blaze had been piling up a long time, and very few of the men realized Just what that spirit really was."

Convict Buck, dealing further with the spirit at the penitentiary, said that the very first day he arrived at the penitentiary, the first convict conversation he heard almost frightened him.It gave him an idea that trouble was imminent.

The accused said that Oct. 17 he saw no notes passed about, but he was convinced there had been notes circuklating. Like a Signal. "As late is twenty to three on Oct. 17," said Buck, "I really believed that the rumored demonstration would actually be held. When the men came:down the scaffolding, it was just like a signal. The men, most of them young and impulsive, just walked out and didn't seem to realize they were leaving their work. "I believe is possible to point out there is a difference in my position as regards to my presence in the disturbance. In the position I am in, I might see trouble brewing and still be helpless; an inmate can be either a rat or a man, and to be a 'rat in the penitentiary is something terrible. I did not choose to be a 'rat!"

In the dome a man was in a peculiar position: If you left the dome you were in danger of being shot; if you stayed there you were in danger of landing in this court. Circumstances decreed that I should be there. I was convicted of being a Communist, and I was not in the machine shop of my own volition, therefore I was there when trouble started.. I was in that position when, if I had not assisted those who were in a jam, something very serious might have happened. "I changed with doing things which I certainly did not do. I am not trying to evade, but I want to point out that there were many things which I did not do. One would think the pulling of the switch in the machine shop started everything. I don't think i had anything whatever to do with the trouble."

Convict Buck reviewed the story of the happenings of the afternoon."They were like a bunch of schoolboys, carefree and full of fun," he said. "But still there was a danger. I went out because I was keenly interested in what would happen. And I believe that Deputy Warden Matt Walsh perforced a masterstroke in getting Garceau to secure the co-operation of the older men in holding back the cool heads. It was certainly a wise move and Mr. Walsh did save what could have become a critical situation."

Buck said there had been no question of danger until the troops came. With the exception of Mr. Walsh, not an officer tried to restrain the men.

"Eighty-five per cent, of the ment in the dome," said Buck, "were there merely as 'listeners.' It is true that when the troops were sent for no one was in control, but they were not out of control. Mere Boys "I think it would be safe to say a clear majority of the men in the dome were mere boys. The belief was that they should get out into the yard. At any rate a situation developed that was hanging by a thread. Up to this point I had not said one word or associated myself in any way with the trouble. I knew Garceau and his efforts to retrieve himself. In the penitentiary we are looked on a convicts. To me these men are a study, being, as I am, a student of sociology. When he asked me to speak to the men I hesitated, but not through fear. I didn't know what to say to them, but Garceau said: Tell them anything to keep them from running amok! I knew I had to give them something to do and I told them to go ahead with the barricading and to get water, for the place was a fire-trap." It may have been wrong in law, but when I look back at what might have happened. I don't think anything better could have been done."

"I spoke once, and once only, yet prosecution evidence had me making speeches everywhere." Convict Back sold he did not in any way use the language that was attributed to him by Guard Hull. "I want to say that it is no secret. Guard Hull is not liked in the institution, and has a record there," said Buck. "I don't believe he heard anyone say: 'We'll kill the screws." At any rate I certainly did not say it."

"When Gilbey told of the fight in the stone shed, you would think lynch law had broken out at my behest. The first I ever heard of it was when Gilbey told it." "Dime Novel Fantasy." "I must confess that the stories of some of the guards as to what happened in the mail-bag department sounded like a dime novel fantasy."

Convict Buck said his address in the dome and his suggestion to the officers in the machine shop that it would be safer in the mail-bag department constituted his participation in the trouble.

"I knew the attitude toward me. I knew I was pointed out as an agitator and I knew an atmosphere had been put around me, and I know that officers were told I was dangerous.

"Frankly, I think the evidence that the men coming into the machine shop were armed is merely a figment of their imagination.

"I knew that this blue uniform is a disadvantage, but I will say that those inmates who gave evidence are as reliable as any one. Why was not Sagel, the third officer in the machine shop, brought here by the Crown?

"It is true he has left Kingston, but he could have been brought here. "I want to say that I did not order Henderson out of the stone shed, and the man who did it did not use the language attributed by Guard Henderson.

"I have tried to speak with restraint, because I want to be cleared of implications of dime novel sensationalism. I want to be clear of a certain implication of hoodlumism and blackguardism. I submit my actions were right. I solemnly believe nothing better could have been done than that which I did; not merely because I did it myself.

"I think it will be agreed that under the circumstances, I could not do otherwise. I played no part in the condition and I had to choose between trying to help the situation or quitting, and I must say I do not regret it.

"This is a court of law. If any quality was strained in the case against me it certainly was not the qualities of mercy or sportsmanship. I am compelled to ask, Is it because.of the protests against my being in prison that attempts are being made to justify my being placed in that Institution and to brand me as a hoodlum and a blackguard?" Crown Counsel's Address. T. J. Rigney, Crown counsel, addressed Judge G. E. Deroche, presiding at the trial.

Mr. Rigney pointed out that the trial had created unusual attention.The question of authority had been involved, but only involved Buck as one of a number. There was also the question of the ideas of the convicts as to prison management, and the rules and regulations.

Mr. Rigney held that the convicts had constituted themselves as an unlawful assembly, and from that developed a riot in which damage was done, and in which the accused had participated. Evidence of unlawful assembly had been established. The Warden forced his way into the assembly. This had been established. He addressed the men and advised them to go back to work. The War-den had attempted to leave and was prevented from so doing, and was a prisoner of the convicts, which in it-self was an unlawful act.

“OTTAWA WILL SUPPRESS LABOR DEFENCE LEAGUE, POLICE MAKE FIRST RAID,” Owen Sound Sun-Times. February 22, 1933. Page 6 --- Immediate Sequel to Crisp Warning of Mr. Bennett ---- IS CANADA-WIDE ---- Mounted Police Raid Headquarters at Prince Rupert -- (Canadian Press Despatch) OTTAWA, Feb. 22 — Nation-wide investigation of the Canadian Labor Defense League — allegedly the Communist Society in Canada operating under another name — has been ordered by the Dominion Government and is being conducted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Raid on the Prince Rupert headquarters of the league and seizure of its books which occurred yesterday is the first move in the campaign to stamp out the propaganda which this organization has been carrying on. 

A Prince Rupert books and papers were taken from local headquarters of the league. No arrests were made. According to Hon. Hugh Guthrie, Minister of Justice, the organization is being financed from outside Canada and rhe Minister can surmise only that the money is coming from Moscow.

Evidence is in the possession the Mounted Police to show that the Defense League seeks to overthrow the Canadian form of government by violent measures and that it is co-operating with Communists in the United States, who have threatened the Minister by telegraph telling him what will happen If the Reds Incarcerated in Portsmouth Penitentiary are not liberated. 

"We have been watching the Canadian Labor Defense League very closely," Attorney-General Price said last night. He Indicated, however, that any action would probably emanate from Ottawa.

Today is August 10 - Prisoner's Justice Day. It started in the 1970s - in a context of horrific violence and turmoil behind bars. But many of the demands, the problems, the calls of justice, go back far further than that period.

I've been (very slowly) working on a project about the 1930s prisoner revolt in Canada. The first fruit of that research can be read here. During most of that decade, prisoners wrote, organized, protested, and struck against the penal system across Canada. In the early years of this revolt, prisoners created a diverse assortment of writings - public letters, petitions, constitutions, reform plans, memoirs and manifestos. Possibly the most famous of these is the collective document 'Barbarism and Civilization' written by the inmates of Kingston Penitentiary in mid-1932.

Although likely started by prisoners working with the Communists incarcerated at Kingston, as it was passed around, debated, and recopied (like a medieval scriptorium) new sections and demands were added, or repeated in new words and with new hands. The manifesto argued that the Canadian penal system in 1932 was "a gigantic failure...smothered in a tangle of persecution, hard routine, distrust, etc., and every human passion that breeds a prolific hate. If you plant thistles you do not expect to pluck roses." Prisoners felt their "minds were censored" and compared convict labour to slavery: "Canada...makes slavery a medium for normal rehabilitation.”

I wanted to share a section of this manifesto, which was retyped by staff as evidence of 'communistic literature'. No handwritten version survives. A partial transcript is below. This is the final page that ends with a call to action to rise up.

Most of the demands, like inmate pay, were accomplished within a few years of writing, but many - like baseball - remained a point of contention until the 1940s and 1950s (and indeed organized team sports have largely disappeared from federal and provincial prisons across Canada). To bring us back to PJD, some of the most radical 1930s demands made at Kingston Penitentiary - for the abolition of corporal punishment, for the removal of the Warden's unilateral power to punish, for voluntary job assignments, and for the creation of inmate committees - remained unfulfilled until the late 1970s when a new generation achieved change. This was, in the words of Bobby Paul at Kent Institution (and echoing sentiments of men and women incarcerated forty years before) "because [our treatment] was brought to people’s attention with blood, literally with blood. Then they changed it!" --- “This is no more than recognition of the fact that convicts are not beasts. Normal men need more than three meals a day and a tooth brush even if they are good meals, they need fresh air and sunshine and an outlet for their emotion. Will any intelligent man claim that fifteen minutes a day doing dumb round after round like a fools parade is exercise! Nobody not even an official could pretend that it is exercise or recreation we need to let ourselves go sometimes to get enthusiastic and excited even if it is over the exploits of somebody else, we need more than fifteen minutes per day in the sunshine less gang rule while we are out there and something more to exercise our lungs over than supper hash. The slaves of the southern states had their recreation…Even the rulers of ancient Rome recognized the need and gave the slaves circuses. All over the world today it is admitted that the so called criminal is a product of society, the same as a banker is, it is only in Canada that the inmates of penitentiaries are horded like dumb cattle and made the victims of revenge. Nearly every other country pays the inmates for their work so they have a little stake when they go out….prison work hours are limited to eight hours per day…they can have letters and visits more like human beings and smoke a cigarette without poisoned paper. We have none of these things, we should have them all. We can get most of them if every man will strive steadily in the proper way for one thing at a time. We want more air and sunshine less time inside and more time outside. We want recreation it will cost nothing to us it will mean a lot one hour per day in the air not like a bunch of apes trotting around their keeper but in free intercourse with each other we want recreation and we are going to have to it. There are nearly a thousand of us. If we want it badly enough we can get it – let’s go boys.”

- “Make a copy of this and pass it around. This is the 23rd copy. Send them to good people.” 

"DECLARE VANDERYAGT NOT ACTIVE IN "RIOT"," Toronto Star. July 4, 1933. Page 3. ---- Fellow Convict Admits Helping to Barricade Dome Doors --- Special to The Star Kingston, Ont., July 4. - Evidence that convict Adrian Vanderyagt had not been an active participant in the alleged prison riots of October 1932, was given in court to-day. It is expected Vanderyagt's trial will be concluded to-day. Convict George Robinson quoted Vanderyagt as having said to him, "My time is too valuable to mix in this business; I get out of here in June." Robinson said he had seen the accused several times during the afternoon of Oct. 17 and the latter had not been taking any active part in the demonstration. Witness admitted, under cross examination, that he himself had helped barricade the doors. At the request of J. M. Simpson. counsel for the accused, Judge Madden gave Robinson protection of the court while he was on the witness stand. The prisoners in the shop dome were no more disorderly than an audience filing out of a theatre, Convict Jesse Gibbons told Col. Keiller MacKay, crown prosecutor. "Do you mean to say that the men were talking in an ordinary voice?" asked Col. MacKay. "Yes, I mean just that." Col. MacKay accused J. M. Simpson, defence counsel, of raising some objection whenever one of the defence witnesses appeared to be in "an awkward or embarrassing position." "Never in my life have I been interrupted so much during a trial," protested Col. MacKay. "I insist that my learned friend withdraw that statement," said Mr. Simpson. "He is intimating that I am obstructing the course of justice." Convict William Short said that when he saw Vanderyagt the latter was sitting in a wheelbarrow and paying no attention to what was going on around him.

That the guards in charge of the stone shed were like "a bunch of lost sheep" after the trouble started was the evidence given by Convict George Dixon. Didn't Want to Join Convict Cecil Smith corroborated previous evidence that Vanderyagt did not want to join in the riot be cause he had only eight months of his sentence to serve. Smith admitted. however, that he had advised the accused to assist in barricading the doors in order to avoid incurring the anger of fellow convicts. Vanderyagt assisted in loading one stone banker on to a cart and that ended his participation in the barricading. "You're a king, aren't you?" asked Col. MacKay. "No, but I'd like to be," said Smith. "Aren't you known as a king?" "Yes, I'm known among the convicts and others as king of the bootleggers." "You have been mixed up in a dozen rackets, have you not?" "Sure, bootlegging, rum running, anything at which I could earn an honest dollar." Smith testified that he had pald out hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines before he was committed to the penitentiary. Court then adjourned.

"To Investigate Message About Tim Buck Trial," Kingston Whig-Standard. June 15, 1933. Page 2. ---- Judge McLean Asks That Telegram Be Brought to Attention of Attorney-General of Ontario. --- Charging that the indictment against Convict Tim Buck for participating in the Penitentiary riots of October 17, 1932, had been "framed" and demanding that it be rescinded, a telegram from the Finnish Organization of Canada was delivered to Judge Evan McLean yesterday afternoon during the trial of Convict Hugh Burling. Judge McLean read the telegram to the Court and then instructed Crown Attorney T. J. Rigney to report the matter to Attorney General.

The telegram read as follows:

"Judge In Charge Tim Buck Trial "Care W. D. Rigney. K. C. "We, the members of the Finnish Organization of Canada, assembled in our national convention in the elty of Toronto, hereby demand the rescinding of the frame-up indictment against Tim Buck and the establish-ment of the rights of a the political prisoners. Convention Committee." Mr. Rigney delivered the telegram to the Judge, while Guard William H.Godwin was giving evidence for the Crown in the Burling case. Judge McLean halted proceedings while he read the telegram to the Court, He then said that no organization had any right to attempt to influence or intimidate any Judge and advised. Mr. Rigney to report the matter to the Attorney-General Guard Godwin Guard William Godwin was the first witness for the Crown to the case of Convict Hugh Burling when Court was resumed in the afternoon. Burling's case is the first in the large docket of twenty-seven cases that will probably come before the General Senaton of the Peace and County Court. Burling one of twenty-four convicts charged with taking part in the Penitentiary riots, a twenty-two years of age, and was sentenced at Sandwich In 1931 to five years in the Kingston Penitentiary for assault and robbery,

For the benefit of the jury Guard Godwin gave a minute description of the lay-out of the penitentiary with particular reference to the work-shops in the main dome where the not was centred. A plan was exhibited to enable the jury to gain a clear picture of the interior.

Witness said that precautionary procedure was taken by the prison authorities in preparation for the rumored riot which was to take place on the afternoon of October 17. The guards in the towers were doubled and the steel shop doors were locked. He described how the convicts assemble in the shop dome, what was saild and what was done there. Godwin said that any official sttempting to leave the dome was gently but firmly told to remain where he was. The doors were barricaded with stone bankers and condemned machinery. Inspector Smith had made an attempt to leave the building, but had been prevented from doing so.

According to Godwin, Tim Buck asked the men if they were going to give in or "fight it out". When the convicts had elected to fight it out, Buck had told them to barricade the doors and fill every available utensil with water. These orders had been carried out by the men. "Why didn't you stop these men?" asked Crown Prosecutor Col. Keiller MacKay. "It wasn't possible." "Why not?" "The men were out of control and crow-bar. I did not want to get my brains knocked out." Witness stated that he had seen Burling in the dome. He named several convicts he had seen there, among them Convict Burling. Under cross-examination by W. H. Herrington counsel for the defence, Godwin admitted that there were some men who did not leave the shops when the trouble started, and also that there were men in the dome who did not join in the shouting nor in the general milling around. He said that when Inspector Smith and he entered the dome the doors had been barricaded immediately behind them. Witness said that at all times he had felt that his life was in considerable danger.

Mr. Herrington made a strong attempt to upset Godwin's evidence that he had seen Burling in the dome. He quoted the testimony given at the preliminary hearing and pointed out that Convict Burling had not been mentioned then. Godwin stoutly maintained that when he saw Burling in the Court he remembered that the Inter had been one of the men taking an active part in the demonstration. He also maintained that the only person with whom he had talked over the convict trials had been the Crown Prosecutor, Col McKay. He said when he saw Burling yesterday he remembered that the accused had been carrying a load of mall-bags to barricade the doors of the mail-bag department. Guard Robinson Guard Harold Robinson testified that Burling, who had been working in the change-room, had stopped working and joined the other men when the riot started. He also said that he had seen Burling later in the afternoon carrying a crow-bar. Robinson testified that in the dome the men were shouting rushing around and carrying crow-bars, hammers, pieces of street and other weapons.

Judge McLean made an appeal to both counsel to try to reach some agreement whereby unnecessary evidence would be curtailed thus saving time of the Court. Counsel were granted a brief recess to arrive at a decision, but no announcement was made of the result when the trial was resumed.

Witness testified that some of the convicts were armed with clubs and that the mob was making a terrific noise. He said that a large number of the men had joined in breaking down the shop-doors.

Counsel questioned witness regarding a meeting at the Warden's house - at which a number of prison officials were alleged to have talked about the trials. Robinson claimed that nothing had been said about giving evidence except that the truth was to be told. "The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth"? asked Mr. Herrington.

"Yes" "Of course, you realize that you must not suppress any evidence even is helpful to the accused?" "Yes." "You weren't told to at the meeting to suppress any evidence that might be of assistance to Burling?" "No, nothing was said about the matter at all." Only Armed Convict "What makes you remember so perfectly that you saw Burling carrying an iron-bar? Is there a something about his face that impresses you?"

"No. I remember his because he was the only armed convict among numerous convicts at the time that I saw him."

Robinson said that he saw Burling rush into the change-room with a crow-bar. "Why didn't you follow him?" "I thought there might be trouble?" "Were you afraid?" "No, I was not."

"You to the Crown that, you went into the paint-house to see what was going on, but if you saw Burling rush into the change-room with a crow-bar don't you think that was the logical place to go If you wanted to view a spectacle?"

"I didn't think it was wise to do so." "You are certain that you know Burling?" "Sure," Witness looked at Burling and the two exchanged smiles.

"Can you name any convicts who were barricading the door?" "No." "Can you name any of the convicts that were in the dome?" "Yes, There was Buck, Behan, Parkes, and Garceau, among others." "Did you see Burling there?" "No." "You know the rules of the Penitentiary, of course?" "Yes." "You know that the convicts are supposed to obey the guards and do as they are told?" "Yes." "Well, when the riot first started did you hear any guards tell the convicts to go back to work?" "There was no time to do that." "Did you make an effort to re-strain the men?" "I did not have enough time for that, I was in the change-room and the men rushed away from me before I could say a word.

"Convict Curry was the only man to stay behind and he asked what he should do, I told him that he had better stick around."

"Did he?" "I believe he did." Court was then adjourned until this morning.

"Inspector Stringer Investigating Case," Kingston Whig-Standard. June 16, 1933. Page 2. ----- Provincial Police Detailed to Act on Tim Buck Telegram ---- Chief Inspector William Stringer of the Criminal Investigation branch of the Ontario Provincial Police, has been detailed to conduct the inquiry ordered by Attorney-General Price into the circumstances surrounding the demand made of Judge E. H. McLean by the Finnish Organization of Canada "for a rescinding of the frame-up indictment against Tim Buck and the establishment of the rights of all political prisoners." Inspector Stringer's appointment to the case was ordered after the Attorney-General conferred with Deputy. Attorney-General Edward Bayly and Major-General Victor Williams, Provincial Police Commissioner. The inspector spent part of yesterday afternoon on the matter, but up to a late hour last night had made no report to. Col. Price. The telegraphed demand of the Finnish organization was received on Wednesday by Judge McLean as he was sitting on the trial of Convict Hugh Burling, of Kingston Penitentlary.

"Hunger Strike Over At 'Pen' Warden Announces," Kingston Whig-Standard. May 6, 1933. Page 3. ---- Convicts Were All Eating at Breakfast This Morning Officials State -Are Given Chance to Work and Exercise. --- Petering out almost as quickly as it started, the hunger strike among the convicts of the new female prison at the Kingston Penitentiary was announced by prison authorities to be over this morning. Warden W. B. Megloughlin, when spoken to by The Whig-Standard this morning, said that the convicts were all eating again and that the strike (if such it could be called) was apparently over. The warden did not take the strike very seriously and he said the punishment for those convicts who had broken the rules and regulations of the institution had not as yet been considered. "Last night there were only a few of the 'striking convicts who didn't care to eat their super," said the warden. "As usual, the trays were placed in their cells and if they didn't. eat, it was their own lookout. But this morning, the convicts were all apparently hungry and ready to take. their meal and say nothing. "Conditions are virtually normal," sald Warden Megloughlin. "Most of the convicts who remained in their cells on Thursday and Friday were. glad of the opportunity afforded them to work and take exercise today.

“COMMUNIST LEADER HEAVILY GUARDED DURING APPEARANCE FOR COMMITTAL,” Kingston Whig-Standard. February 22, 1933. Page 10. ---- Above are shown several scenes in connection with the preliminary trial of Convict Tim Buck of the Kingston Penitentiary, who was committed for trial on Monday on a charge of rioting at the Institution. At the top left is shown the car in which Convict Buck was taken to and from the Court House, with guards standing on the running-board. At the top right are two other convicts, Paul Demerse and William McCrea, also committed for rioting. McCrea is seen pulling his cap down to hide his face. Behind the prisoners are Deputy Warden George Sullivan and a guard of the institution. At the bottom left, Convict Tim Buck is shown again on his way into the Court House, accompanied by Deputy Warden George Sullivan. In the centre is Colonel William Megloughlin, warden of the institution, and at the bottom right are Michael Garber, of Montreal, counsel for Buck, and Col. Kellier MacKay, Crown Prosecutor. The pictures were taken by the Toronto Mail and Empire staff photographer and are published through the courtesy of the Mail and Empire.

Convict 2524 Smiles After Committal Tim Buck, Communist, convict of the Kingston Penitentiary is shown above on his way from the Court House to the county jail to await removal back to the penitentiary, after being committed for trial on a charge of rioting. Buck's ankles are shackled but the chains are not visible in the picture. On the left is Guard Neddow of the Pentitentiary staff and another guard on the right. The picture was taken by the Toronto Mail and Empire staff photographer and are published through the courtesy of the Mail and Empire.

[Read more about this prison riot here or click on the 1932 kp riot tag.]

“Canadian Labor Defence League ‘Communistic’,” Kingston Whig-Standard. February 21, 1933. Page 11. ---- Declaration Made by Premier Bennett to Deputation at Ottawa ---- CASE OF TIM BUCL ---- OTTAWA, Feb. 21 — The Canadian Labor Defence League has been carrying on the work of the Communistic League under this new name since the conviction of the eight Toronto Communists a year ago, Prime Minister R. B. Bennett declared today. Tim Buck and his Communist associates in Kingston penitentiary, now further charged with inciting the Kingston prison riots last fall, will not be released but will face their trial in court on the new charges, he said.

The Premier made these statement to a deputation of fourteen members of the Canadian Labor Defence League, headed by A. E. Smith, Toronto, former clergyman, and Mrs. Tim Buck.

Speaking to Mr. Smith directly, the Prime Minister added: "And you have been the leading head of this new League. In my opinion, there is no doubt but that a jury of the citizens of this country would so find you guilty.’

Senator Arthur Meighen and Hon. Hugh Guthrie, Minister of Justice, both joined in the charge that that the Canadian Labor League is Communistic, that a delegate who had spoken in French had admitted that he was a Communist. Mr. Smith said he to any “political party.”