THE DOUKHOBORS

Hokitika Guardian, 19 October 1929, Page 7

THE DOUKHOBORS

VANCOUVER, Sept. 13

lie, sorting to nude parades after havin burned schools in opposition to sending their children to school, more than ICO Doukhobors-— members of a peculiar religious sect which emigrated 10 this country in 1916 —have defied die Canadian ,Government, with the result that they have each been sentence! to serve s.x months in a penitentiarv for indecent exposure.

Of all the immigration problems with wliich the Government has had to contend, that of the rebellious Doukhobors is proving the most delicate. Strict vegetar.ans, residing' in several colonies in British Columbia and Saskatchewan under a rigid community system,, they have flatly refused to send their children to school, asserting that they would be taught to glorify war and '‘to kill.” Killing of anything is abhorrent to a Doukhobor which to a large extent accounts for his vegetarianism. There are no cows, sheep or chickens on the Doukuobor colonies. SUCCESSFUL FARMERS. , Skilled farmers and highly industrious, they have established in southern British Columbia splendid fruit ranches, sawmills and jam factories. The men do the harder tasks in connection with fruitgrowing; the women grow all the vegetables, and the children are employed to pick the fruit and to work in the jam factories. At Brilliant, 8.C., they purchased from the Provincial Government when they first arrived a large section of land, which had’been generally regarded as worthless from an agricultural standpoint; But the Doukhohors cleared this tract by remarkable industry under the communal system, buih roads and bridges, and made their fruit ranches the envy of growe'rs Under the rule of Peter Veregin/ ‘‘King or the Doukhobors,” who, after a stormy career in Russia under the Czar, had come to Canada with the immigrants, they prospered and lived peaceably enough: But since the mysterious death ol Veregin, a few years ago, through a jonfb explosion aboard a train, the Doukhobor colonies have been seething with discontent. A son of Veregin was brought from Russia and name to rule the colonies. This in itseli -rented some dissension, as not a few Doukhobors favoured the claims of Anasrasia, the dead leader’s widow, at his successor. REVOLT AGAINST LEADER. Determined to force the Doukhobors to send their children to school, the Provincial government prosecuted several parents, and heavy fines were imposed. In every case they refused to pay, and were imprisoned as an alternative. Then came the mysterious burning of no less than ten schools. The Government declared that the schools would ,ie rebuilt, und the cost charged’ against Doukhobor lands as taxes. Peter Veregin, jun., the new leader, openly deplored the burning of the schools, urged his people to send their children to the school, and assured the Government that school law would be obeyed. Shortly afterwards a section of the colonists, including more than 300 beads of families revolted against Veregin’s rule; another school was burnt; three suspects were arrested, and then followed the demonstrative tactics which have proven characteristic of the sect.

Declaring that God wanted theirf to live just as they had been born, and chanting hymns in Russian, the rebellious faction of the sect which had been driven from the Brilliant community by Veregin began a march on Nelson, where the three suspects were imprisoned. Absolutely opposed .to violence of any kind, they planned, not an attempt to release their gaoled brethren, but a demonstration of religious frenzy outside the gaol. Nelson police met the marchers outside the city and warned them that they would not be allowed to enter. For several days the demonstrators camped by the roadside, existing on raw vegetables which they carried with them. Eventually, hv a ruse, they eluded the police guards, reached the centre of the city, and, when confronted by firemen with hose laid, policemen and massed citizens, then all—men. women and children, more than ICO of them—disrobed on the street

By use of the fire hose many were forced to don their clothing, while others were wrapped in auto blankets or any other covering that offered itself, and all were thrust into motor cars and driven to the police cells. AO were sentenced to prison terms of six months, which they are now serving.

Conveyed to Vancouver from Nelson on a special train, the Doukhohors pave their guards no trouble, spending their time mainly in chanting Russian hymns. At Canora, Saskatchewan, three days later, the Nelson demonstration was duplicated, with the result that there also 59 Doukhohors were imprisoned for indecent exposure through the holding of nude parades, and 96 were held in police barracks until they agreed to cease their demonstrations, and were permitted to return to their wh n at farms. The Doukhohors have been too lons in Canada to be. deported under the Aliens Act. In addition, even if they "•ere deported, it. is extremelv doubtful if, after the experiences in Canada any other country would admit them. Tn an effort to enforce compliance with school laws, the British Columbia Government lias taken six children away from parents and placed them in provincial child welfare institutions, with the understanding that-they will he returned to their parents when the latter agree to obey the school laws.