The benefits of a free country
CANADA AT 150
HERE’S A STORY that ran in The Hamilton Spectator 150 years ago today, on the eve of Canada’s date of birth:
“Henry Towhey, a resident of the “Valley City,” visited the theatre while drunk and behaved in such a disorderly manner that he was handed over to Const. West by the Chief of Police. The officers testified that the prisoner had made use of the vilest and most obscene language it was possible to conceive, both prior to and after being arrested. He stated that he was on his way back from St. Catharines races, and had probably taken a little too much to drink. Fined $4.”
Almost every day back then, it seems, there were similar stories in The Spectator:
“Robert Blair was charged with being drunk and disorderly on Lind St. early on Sunday morning. Mr. Barr appeared for defendant. Some ruffians had assaulted his premises with stones, and he had turned out, rifle in hand, to protect his property. Being slightly inebriated, the police locked him up. Defendant complained of having been beaten severely, and exhibited sundry marks which he had received in the contest. Fined $3 and costs.”
WHO KNOWS if there was simply more drunkenness in Hamilton back then, or if the police were less tolerant? Or perhaps The Spectator and its readers were simply fascinated by it?
There were, of course, other nonlocal stories out of Ottawa, and New York, and London. The lead editorial on June 24, 1867, titled “Female Suffrage” attacked other newspapers that were “warmly advocating the granting of the suffrage to ‘every woman who has the requisite qualification.’”
The editorial continues:
“We cannot say that we agree with our contemporary in this belief. Woman has her separate mission in the world to perform, which is fully as important and engrossing as that which devolves upon the sterner sex, and it would be in the last degree unnatural and unwise to attempt to force her to mingle in all the hot strife which must always to some extent attend a political contest. If we did so, instead of elevating our selves we should be lowering woman, dragging her down from the position which her own purity and delicacy has won for her, and robbing her of those charms which form her chief grace and ornament.”
TIMES WERE CHANGING, then as now, however slowly — and however quickly.
The city, like the country, was expanding. The economy was growing. The social structure in transition.
And this newspaper was changing with it. The language, the reporting and the, er, editorial views, would be in a constant state of flux, and remain so to this day.
Our identity is never fully formed. It is always in transition.
Even way back then, this nation, before it was even an official country, had the makings of greatness, not the least of which was the fact that journalists were allowed the freedom to report what they thought relevant. The Spectator, like other newspapers, has always been a place for the free flow of reasonable ideas. Where people meet in print to debate the issues of the day, presumably for the betterment of the community and all who reside in it.
And where journalists and ordinary citizens can question authority, agitate for change and push for improvements without fear of reprisal.
It’s worth remembering that without those press freedoms, freedoms we take for granted, that we might not be the prosperous city — and nation — we are today.
I have had the privilege of visiting many countries, and the opportunity to speak to journalists where such freedoms do not exist. Where reporters are murdered for investigating politicians. Where people are executed for saying what they think. Where information that could improve all our futures is kept hidden. Where new ideas never see the light of day.
It may have started with routine stories about drunken citizens, or ill-considered rants about suffrage or politics or the economy, but journalism today has morphed into an important pillar of democracy that thrives because we appreciate its benefits despite its drawbacks.
There is so much in Canada to be thankful for, and much worth celebrating on its 150th birthday. But there is much to reflect on as well, much to atone for, much to improve, and much, much further to go to make Canada a just society. As in the past, we’ll need journalism to help us get there.
Paul Berton is editor-in-chief of The Hamilton Spectator and thespec.com. You can reach him at 905-526-3482 or pberton@thespec.com