"Sons of Freedom"

Dr. James H. King, Canada's Minister of Health, last week pondered a compound problem of propriety, tolerance and human rights. The Provincial authorities of British Columbia had laid the problem be- fore him: they proposed that Canada exile or isolate several thousand of Canada's inhabitants upon lonely D'Arcy Island, off the southernmost tip of Vancouver Island.

The proposed exiles were the Doukhobors, that strange, lusty Russian religious sect which the Dominion government welcomed as settlers 30 years ago. The Doukhobors are thrifty and healthy. The Doukhobors are peace-loving. But they have ideas of their own and some of them are fanatics. When they do not want to send their children to the government schools, they burn the schoolhouses. When a hot summer sun sends heat waves simmering from the baked ground, the Doukhobors wear heavy clothes. When a cold wind sweeps down from Alaska they often stalk about stark naked. They live on a communistic plan, denounce capital and marriage laws, are called "Dukes" and "Duchesses," eat no meat, drink no wine, touch no tobacco. Their prime weapon of protest is going naked. Their name means "Spirit Fighters."

Doukhobor protests have been frequent in the Northwest this summer. Last week 103 "Dukes" and "Duchesses" had to be sentenced to six months at hard penal labor for parading at Nelson, B. C. At Canora, Sask., 60 more were incarcerated.

The unrest at Nelson began when one Peter Wolosov, leader of an inner fanatical sect, "The Sons of Freedom," was imprisoned for burning schoolhouses. Comrades rallied in naked protest shouting "Jesus would not carry a gun!"

In Saskatchewan, the Doukhobors stormed the town of Kamsack. Repulsed by the police they wandered aimlessly on the highway. When eight leaders were arrested, the women and children strutted nude until the arrival of the Royal Mounted Police, armed with riding whips.

If the Doukhobors are moved to an island, it will be a continuation of a long history of forced migrations. By Alexander I (1777-1825) the sect was rounded up from various parts of Russia and colonized in Tauris. In 1840 and 1850, the Doukhobors refused to participate in military service, were sent by Nicholas I from Tauris to Transcaucasia. In 1895 Nicholas II banished over 4,000 of them to Georgia. Three years later a party of over 2,000 emigrated to Cyprus, stayed there a year, then joined some 4,000 who had gone to Canada.

While deportation would not be new to the Doukhobors, to Canada it would represent a reversal of judgment. In 1901 the Minister of Justice told the House of Commons that not a single offense had been committed by the Doukhobors; that they were "law abiding," and if good conduct was a recommendation, they were "good immigrants."