Ringing in the Common Love of Good: The United Farmers of Ontario, 1914-1916

314 Pages·2000·15.617 MB·English

by  Kerry Badgely

Ringing in the Common Love of Good
The United Farmers of Ontario, 1914-1926
Founded in 1914, the United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) became a sig-
nificant force in the province, winning the most seats in the 1919 pro-
vincial election and forming a governing coalition with the
Independent Labour Party. The UFO and its companion organiza-
tions, the United Farmers Cooperative Company (UFCC) and the
United Farm Women of Ontario (UFWO), flourished, achieving much
of its success by challenging those who controlled the economic,
political, and social structures in Ontario and advancing an alterna-
tive vision of democracy that sought to maximize citizen participa-
tion in the decision-making process.
By the mid-i92os the UFO had gone into a period of decline from
which it never recovered. The promise of equality hoped for by UFWO
members never materialized and the UFCC, once a key component in
the development of an alternative vision, began to focus more on
profits than on politics.
In Ringing in the Common Love of Good Kerry Badgley explores both
the rise and the fall of the UFO, focusing on the Ontario counties of
Lambton, Simcoe, and Lanark. He challenges the liberal-capitalist
interpretation that the movement was nothing more than a group of
impatient Liberals, as well as the Marxist view that the UFO consisted
of self-interested independent commodity producers. Badgley argues
that as the UFO broke free from hegemonic forces it developed alter-
native economic, political, and social visions, but that it was these
same forces, combined with internal struggles and a conservative
leadership, that ultimately resulted in the decline of the movement
as a vehicle for democratic change in Ontario.
KERRY BADGLEY is an archivist at the National Archives of Canada.
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Ringing in
the Common Love
of Good
The United Farmers of Ontario,
1914-1026
KERRY A. BADGLEY
McGill-Queen's University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Ithaca
© McGill-Queen's University Press 2000
ISBN 0-7735-1895-9
Legal deposit first quarter 2000
Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
This book has been published with the help of a grant
from the Humanities and Social Sciences Federation of
Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the
financial support of the Government of Canada through
the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for
its activities. We also acknowledge the support of the
Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing
program.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Badgley Kerry 1962-
Ringing in the common love of good : the United
Farmers of Ontario in Lambton, Simcoe and Lanark
Counties, 1914-1926
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7735-1895-9
i. United Farmers of Ontario - History. 2. Ontario -
Politics and government - 1905-1919. i. Title.
HD1486.C3U66 2000 324.27i3'o2 099-901046-8
Typeset in Palatino 10/12
by Caractera inc., Quebec City
Contents
Tables and Figures vii
Abbreviations ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction 3
2 Historical and Statistical Profiles of Lambton, Simcoe,
and Lanark Counties 21
3 Ringing Out the Narrowing Lust of Gold and Ringing in
the Common Love of Good: The Rise of the UFO 51
4 "Sane and Careful Administration": The UFO Movement
in Decline 81
5 "Citizens Instead of Wards": The United Farm Women of
Ontario in Lambton, Simcoe and Lanark Counties 114
6 "To Defeat the Capitalist and Profiteer Is Simple":
Agricultural Cooperatives in Lambton, Simcoe, and
Lanark Counties 142
7 Conclusion 170
Appendices 183
Notes 231
Bibliography 285
Index 299
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Tables and Figures
TABLES
1 Rural Land Cleared in Lambton, Simcoe, and Lanark
Counties, 1920 25
2 Population Change in Lambton, Simcoe, and Lanark
County Townships, 1911-31 26
3 Ethnicity in Lambton, Simcoe, and Lanark, 1921 27
4.1 Religious Denominations with 200 or More Adherents,
Lambton County, 1921 28
4.2 Religious Denominations with 200 or More Adherents,
Simcoe County, 1921 28
4.3 Religious Denominations with 200 or More Adherents,
Lanark County, 1921 28
5 Farm Size by County, 1921 29
6 Farm Size by County, 1931 29
7.1 Field Crops - Acreage, Yield, Value, and Return per Acre,
Lambton County, 1920 31
7.2 Field Crops - Acreage, Yield, Value, and Return per Acre,
Simcoe County, 1920 31
7.3 Field Crops - Acreage, Yield, Value, and Return per Acre,
Lanark County, 1920 32
viii Tables and Figures
8 Dollar Returns per Unit Produced - Selected Field Crops,
Lambton, Lanark, and Simcoe Counties, 1920 32
9 Fruit Production - Lambton, Simcoe, and Lanark
Counties, 1920 33
10 Livestock - Lambton, Simcoe, and Lanark Counties,
1921 34
11 Maple Syrup and Sugar Production, Lambton, Simcoe,
and Lanark Counties, 1920 35
12 Value of Farm Products - Lambton, Lanark, and Simcoe
Counties, 1920 36
13 Total Farm Values, Lambton, Simcoe and Lanark Counties,
1920 36
14 Farm Property, Implements, and Livestock, Lambton,
Simcoe, and Lanark Counties, 1920 37
15 UFO and Non-UFO Membership - Lambton and Lanark
Counties and Oro and Flos Townships, Simcoe
County 41
16 Percentage of Members Who Sat on the Executive of Three
Simcoe County UFO Clubs 42
17 Property and Property Value Indicators Executive and
Non-Executive Members in Three Simcoe County UFO
Clubs 43
18 UFO Membership - Breakdown by Religious Affiliation,
Lanark County and Flos and Oro Townships 45
19 Sales for the Smiths Falls and Perth UFO Stores to October
1920 159
FIGURES
1 Rugby and Oro UFO Clubs Membership, Oro Township,
Simcoe County 46
2 Edenvale UFO Club Membership, Flos Township, Simcoe
County 47
Abbreviations
AG Almonte Gazette
AO Archives of Ontario
BE Barrie Examiner
BNA Barrie Northern Advance
CB Collingivood Bulletin
CE Collingivood Enterprise
CPH Carleton Place Herald
CSB Collingivood Saturday Bulletin
CSN Collingwood Saturday News
FA Farmers' Association
FFP Forest Free Press
FI Farmers' Institute
FS Forest Standard
ILP Independent Labor Party
LCA Lambton County Archives
LE Lanark Era
MFP Midland Free Press
NA Northern Advance