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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1966-10-13, Page 4The Goderich Si,gnalS'tar, Thursday, October 13, 11 6 retetVitirtY-cet4AtS pi�ciue An historical plaque commem- orating 'William Aberhart, found- er of the Social Credit Party and ,former premierpof Alberta,.was unveiled in Seaforth yesterday. �- Tt is situated at the Seaforth and District High School which Mr. Aberhart attended. This plaque is one of a series being' erected throughout . the pro- vince by .the department of 'tourism and information, acting on the advice of the Arohaeo• - logical`and Historic Sites Board of Ontario. Wednesday's ceremony was arranged and sponsored by the Seaforth School lIvard and Frank Sills, chairman of the property committee, was program chair- man. Dr. Morriss. • aslow, presi- dent of the Ontario Historical- So6lety, represented. the historic sites board. The plaque was un- veiled by Mrs. Charles MacNutt, of Calgary, who is a daughter of Mr. Aberhart. Mrs. MacNutt' gave a resume he r father's career. Amon wheys ta';ing part in the pro rain were Sea - forth Mayor J,, J, Flannery, Highways Minister MacNaugh- ton, Huron MI' R. E. McKinley, and HIuron 1Vaiden Kenneth Stewart. Mr. Aberhart was born in . 1878 on Lot 29, Con. 1'iil, Hib- bert Tow.rship, Perth County of Germain. and English per;•nt- age. IIis father, William Abt?r- hart, had been br„uPub to Can- ada as a hoy by his parents in the 1840's to escape, like so many others, from the oppres- sive military ser\ ice :•<e>ul•ati,,ns of Prussia. His mother was Louisa Pepper, an Engli-h- woman. About 1886 the family moved to"the first of two farms they occupied near Egmondville, Tuckersmi:h Township, Huron County. It was here that William grctiv up on his father's dairy farm with his two sisters and five brothers. The Aberhart children from the •eldest to the ,,P Honors Social Credit Pioneer youngest were: Augusta, Charles, John, William, Louis, Monetta, Henry and Wilfred. Although they are all deceased, the name of Abar+hart is still well known' in the .Seaforth area. Aberhart received his elemen- tary education at the Egmond- vidle public school. He attended the Seaforth Collegiate Institute' (now the Seaforth and District High School) from 11893 When he commenced in "A form" to his "senior leaving" in the spring of 1898. An excellent student, he never had a. failure in the rigorous departmental examinations which were a fea- ture of the Ontario educational • system in the late 19th century. Although interested in all his subjects, 'mathematics — which he was later .to teach so'success- fully—was his favorite. In this subject he exhibited the amaz- ing powers of concentration and retention which were often re- marked on later in his life. Did Chores Although as a farm boy he had his full share of chores, he managed ;to find time for par, ticipation in high school sports, and won local fame as a football player. Seaforth at the time had one of the best teams in West- ern Ontario and Aberhart was considered its best player. After ' graduating from the Collegiate Institute,' he attended Chatham Business College and Hamilton Normal School from which he received a teaching certificate. He taught school in Wingham until 1901 when,he moved to Brantford. In 190he married Jessie. Flat of Galt. They had two daughters, now Mrs. Charles (Ola) UCacNutt of Calgary and Mrs. James (Khona) Cooper -of HaTr Moon Bay; B.C. Aberhart soon became prin- cipal of Central School in Brant- ford where he taught bookkeep- - Past's Portraits Mrs: D. •D. Mooney, Huron co- ordinator of women's aeivities for Canada's 1.967 Centennial, has confirmed dates for Por- traits of the Past, a show of fashions of the past 100 years. It opens' in Goderich May. 17, sponsored by Maple Leaf 'ODE. Other locations, .Exeter,. May 11. Beta Sigma Phi; Seafor`h, May 15, Women's Institute; Clin- ton, May 19,..Women's Hospital Auxiliary:. Wing'ham, :May 29.. Business ,,and Professional Wo- men's Club: Kincardine. May 31. ing and' other commercial sub- jects. He lived in Brantford for nine years and during this time, in ad ,ition too his teaching duties, he managed, throuvh -combination of summer school and cori•espandence., courses to complete the B.A. requirements at Queen's University. He was arca;.' extremely Proud i'f this degree - which was granted in April, 1911, just after he had moved to AIb.erta. 6. In 1910. in search of greater opportunities, Aberhart, decided to .move to Calgary, then at the height of a boom period. He served as principal of variuu public schools 'in Calgary until, • 1915 when he was appointed principal of the newly organized Crescent Heights High School. He was, to retain this position for 20 years until he assumed, in 1935; the premi©rship of the province. He is 'remembered during his years at Crescent Heights as one of the most dynamic teachers and efficient school administrators in Al- berta. ,Liked Evangelism Aberhart had always been an ac.ive church worker, strongly drawn to evangelical fo: nis of re:igion. While in Brantford he ,had taught Sunday schJol class - 'es and organized Bible study griups, _He resumed these -ac- tivities when he reached. Cal- ga:y. The success of his Sunday lectures led to the formation in 1918 of the Calgary 'Prophetic Bible Conference which •was in- tended to encourage the discus- sion of fundamental Biblical doctrines and prophecies. Begun first in a hall ,the lectures be- caiue so popular they were n1.ov• ed to.a downtown. theatre. By the middle -1920's Aberhart had built up an enthusiastic per- sonal following in Calgary. But it was the radio broadcasts he TRAIN TO TORONTO Ask about convenient departure and return times For information, phone the local CN Passenger Sales Office began to deliver in 192 which enabled him to reach an even larger audience. His dynamic personality and gift of oratory soon made him the foremost fundamentalist religious leader in Alberta. At the height of his' fa ue, his Sunday afternoon ra- di roleetures were listened to by hundreds of th .usands of people th:oughuut the three prairie provinces and in parts of British C, lu nbia and the Uni:ed.States. ,in 1927, the Prophetic Bible In- atitute was erected in downtown Calgary to ser' a as a headquart- ers for Aberhart's various re- ligiou.s activities and to provide classroom space for three .year course., in Bible study to be i;en on a regiilar basis. By 1932, the people -of Alberta began to be seriously, affected by the depression--hread lines appeared, farmers lost their !and w hen mort,. a,. s were fore - el, sed and crowing numbers of unemployed- were forced to go on relief. It was as this time Aberhart, greatly distressed ,by h suffering around him. first encountered the theories of Major C. II. Douglas (1878-1952), a British engineer and• origina- tor of Social Credit. Aberhart became convinced that the only solution to the economic pro-, blems of the time lay in a com- • plete reformation of" the mone- tary and banking system. With evangelical fervour he promoted- the romoted .t'he doctrines of Social Credit in his radio broadcasts. People listened: Aberhart's voice be- came a voice of hope for thous- ands during the dark days of the early thirties: Within a year public meetings and study were orga.n.ized, pain- " phlets were distributed and All erhart -lectured—tirelessly---not- only ectured tirless1y.-netonly in Calgary but also in towns_ and villages throughout the pro- vince on his interpretation of airotnicis RFp FARE CANADIAN NATIONAL Social Credit. ,iverywhere he went he found increasing sup- port fram the people of Alberta. Organized Party. ' Although in the beginning the S.acial Credit movement was an 'educational and partly religious campaign, it emerged by 1935 .as a powerful politiea'l. force. Once political action was de- cided on a party structure was quickly organized, a platform was formulated and conventions were held -to nominate .candi- dates. The election of August" 25, 1935, was a Social Credit land slide. The party's candidates. won 56 out of 63 seats;'the Unit- ed Farmers of Alberta, the form- er governing party, went, down to total defeat. Although Aber - hart had not been a candidate in the election -and stated that he was not interested in public office, his followers insisted that he because premier once the election. had been, won. He was called upon to form an 'admin- istration and on Sept. 3, with himself as premier and minister of education, his cabinet was sworn in to become the first Social Credit government in history. William Aberhart served as premier of Alberta for five years. During this time his government made many attem- pts to implement Social Credit theories of monetary re-form at the provincial level. However, the specifically' Social Credit measures passed by the provin- cial legislature in 1937 and the following years were declared unconstitutional by .the eourts or were disallowed by Ottawa. In practice, the fiscal policy of the. Aberhart government devel- oped into a financially orthodox and e 'en conservative one. .While on a visit to British •• • Columbia, Mr. Aberhart died suddenly in Vancouver on May 23, 1943. BUYS YOU CANADA. SAVINGS ONDAT • ANADA'S' FIRST BANK BUY YOURS' FOR CASH OR BY INSTALMENTS. DOWN PAYMENT OF 5°o—$25° FOR A $50 BOND; $500. FOR A $100 BOND, ETC. BA—LANCE IN EASY INSTALMENTS OVER, A YEAR. BUY YOURS AT ANY BRANCH OF THE B.OF M. BANK OF MONTREAL 4p.e5 Canada's First Bank FEEDER SALE HENSALL: SALES ARENA -SAT., OCT. 15th, 1.04 P.M. HEAD 600 CONSISTING OF CALVES, COWS, HEIFERS AND STEERS FOR CONSIGNMENTS CONTACT THE MANAGEMENT VICTOR HARGREAVES ' JACK234O6RRRIISSEY 482-7511 AUCTIONEERS: HECTOR McNEIL, HAROLD JACKS ONN S "500" S PROJECTOR ECONOMY MANUAL -AUTOMATIC 4 "SLIDE HANDLING METHODS Has same basic construction as other Sawyer's "500" projectors. Big 4" lens and 500 -watt t amp,,,,,rssure brilliant pictures. Slides change smoothly With a flip Of the finger on the changer arm. Convenient micro -focusing knob is up front on the control panel. Combination switch turns on both fan and lamp. Has 4" f3.5 color --corrected anastigmat lens with blower cooled 500 -watt lamp for exceptional brilliarrce. Use any of 4 slide projection methods: the new 100 -Slide Sawyer's Rototray;' the 36 -Slide "Easy -Edit" Slide Tray; the handy Sawyer's Stack Loader; any Universal type slide tray. Comes with one "Easy -Edit" Tray. . "500" S PROJECTOR, No. 6227 Regular 74.50 59.9s HENDERSON'S BOOK STORE THE SQUARE A"T' REGULAR 25.00 to 59.95 The suit season is here and we have made up a large group especially for this sale., There are tweeds, plaids, wor- • steds, twills, double knit and corduroy. Most sizes are available. A rare oppor- tunity to get a quality suit at a low price. • to 45. THE TS REGtPLAR $49.95to 169.95 3.5• to 12.95 You will be delighted with what we have put - on 'sale in this group. Choose from tweeds, textured and plain fabrics., Some have fur collars. Most sizes are available. AliWeathcr COATS REGULAR 19.98 to 45.00 12.98 to 25. These are mostly sizes 6 to 14 but there are some junior and half sizes included. D RESSE. REGULAR 16.95 to 39.95 1.15.1 This is a very large group of dresses in the latest styles' and colors. Half sizes are included. Be sure to shop early for best selection as they will • not last long. A FEW PARTY DRESSES INCLUDED IN THIS (GROUP t MANY UNADVERTISED ITEMS • _ G SHOP