Canadian Holy War by Ian Macdonald

Author:Ian Macdonald
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781926936734
Publisher: Heritage House
Published: 2011-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

Improbable Plots, Twists, and Turns

One reporter noted that the Janet Smith affair had all the ingredients of a dime-store novel: bizarre characters, improbable plots, lies, cover-ups, violence, kidnapping, death, and more twists and turns than the Fraser River.

A leading role in this melodrama was about to be played by an unlikely figure. John Sedgwick Cowper, former Liberal MLA, was now a flamboyant, crusading newspaperman of many talents and editor of Vancouver’s tabloid Saturday Tribune. He was an avowed Unitarian and the father of four daughters. Born in Liverpool, England, in 1867, Cowper, the son of a naval officer, attended public schools there. Married in 1898, he and his wife came to Canada in 1901. Cowper worked for the Toronto Globe from 1905 to 1910 and moved to Prince Rupert, B.C., in 1911, where he became editor of the Prince Rupert Daily News. It was while he resided in this northern coastal town that Cowper met a young lawyer named Alex Manson, with whom he formed a fast friendship. Cowper joined the Liberal party on Manson’s recommendation, and it was with Manson’s encouragement that he ran successfully for a seat in the provincial legislature in 1916. Unfortunately he was not prepared to toe the party line, and his maverick behaviour lost him the re-nomination in 1920. Cowper blamed Manson for his rejection by party members, and the once firm friendship turned sour.

Cowper had been the MLA for Vancouver, and as a consequence he had moved to the province’s largest city in 1916. Among his many talents was his skill as a cabinetmaker and carpenter, and when he was not employed as a reporter or MLA, he made his living as a woodworker. He was outspoken, well-educated, an iconoclast, and a resolute crusader for any cause in which he believed. He had little fear of authority, but among his weaknesses was a willingness to believe almost anything that supported his views, which were often outlandish judged by today’s standards. In any of his written diatribes there was only one side to the story, and that was his own. A competent writer, his attacks on perceived enemies were often vitriolic and his words could be savage. Fortunately for his readers, his writing was also frequently tinged with humour. A complex man, John Sedgwick Cowper spoke several languages, and one of his more eccentric interests was a belief in the occult. In a social setting he was extremely articulate, often charming. He was a sought-after guest at social gatherings and often appeared at Liberal events in Vancouver.

In 1924 Cowper began working for a small weekly publication in Vancouver, the Saturday Tribune, in which he also had some financial investment. With him as editor it fittingly billed itself as a “journal of vitriolic opinion” and developed into a popular Vancouver tabloid. It was in a far different vein than Rev. McDougall’s monthly ravings in The Beacon, which featured lengthy tirades without a single line of humour.

The Tribune was an odd publication, an amalgamation of several previous newspapers, including the B.

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