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Company Picnics (1911)

By • On • In Economics, Politics, Pre 1914

As early as the 1860s, local manufacturing companies began to hold picnics for their employees and other local people. In Berlin, picnics held by local distilleries became popular, and were often accompanied by a parade and musical entertainment. These picnics are a mark of industrialization and growth in the region, as companies used picnics for community outreach and to establish a close relationship with their employees. This relationship was maintained through these types of events, and became particularly important in 1911 federal election, in which industrial workers voted in favour of Conservative protectionism, rather than Liberal reciprocity, to protect the economic interests of their employers.

(McLaughlin, Kenneth. Waterloo: An Illustrated History. Waterloo: Windsor Publishing Canada, 1990; Argyle, Ray. Turning Points: The Campaigns That Changed Canada – 2011 and Before Hampshire:Waterside Books, 2011.)

 

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William George Weichel (1911)

By • On • In Politics, Pre 1914, Storyboards

William Weichel was born in Elmira, Ontario, on 20 July 1870. As a young man, he worked for his father at the family hardware store. In 1896, he opened his own store in Waterloo. In 1911, he was appointed Mayor of Waterloo, and was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Waterloo North, defeating Liberal candidate William Lyon Mackenzie King. Weichel represented the people of Waterloo North during the First World War as a Conservative MP; this changed in 1917 when he became a “Unionist” (Pro-War Conservative) candidate and lost his seat to William Daum Euler, the former Mayor of Berlin.

(Celebration of Cityhood 1912. Berlin: The German Printing and Publishing Co of Berlin, 1912; PARLINFO. “Weichel, William George.” Accessed April 20, 2014. http://www.parl.gc.ca/)

 

 

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Waterloo North as a Canadian Community (1911)

By • On • In German-Canadian Identity, Pre 1914

While the Region is marked by a uniquely German heritage, Waterloo North, which is of primarily German descent, was distinctly “Canadian” by 1911. According to the 1911 Census of Waterloo North’s 33, 619 people, 25, 352 were of German origin; furthermore, 29, 134 citizens were Canadian-born, with 29,026 born specifically in Ontario.  The people of Waterloo North, despite their German ancestry, were second, third, and even fourth generation Germans by the outbreak of the First World War, as immigration between 1901 and 1911 had slowed to just over 1200 people, primarily from Germany. An example of this trend are the prominent Berlin citizens Albert Loborious Breithaupt, Louis Jacob Breithaupt, and Louis Jacobs’ daughter Catherine Breithaupt, who were born in Ontario and of German ethnic ancestry, but used English even in their personal journals. By the outbreak of the war, the individuals living in Waterloo North had developed a unique Canadian identity – they were German-Canadians, but most importantly Canadians.

(McLaughin, Ken, and John English. Kitchener: An Illustrated History. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1983.; McLaughin, Ken. The Germans in Canada. Ottawa: The Canadian Historical Association,1985; Celebration of Cityhood 1912. Berlin: The German Printing and Publishing Co of Berlin, 1912; Fifth Census of Canada 1911, Volume I. C.H.Parmelee: Ottawa, 1912; Fourth Census of Canada 1901, Volume I. Ottawa: S.E.Dawson, 1902; Third Census of Canada, 1890-91. S.E.Dawson, 1893; Second Census of Canada, 1880-81. Maclean, Roger & Co: Ottawa, 1883; First Census of Canada, 1870-71. Ottawa: I.B. Taylor, 1873.)

 

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The Federal Election (1911)

By • On • In Politics, Pre 1914

In 1911, the Canadian federal election saw the end of Wilfrid Laurier’s longstanding Liberal government, which had lasted for 15 years. Liberal federal dominance ended due to the issue of free trade with the United States, and saw the election of a Conservative majority government under Robert Borden. The Liberals supported lower tariffs with the U.S., and the Conservatives used this to their advantage during the 1911 campaign, in which they portrayed the Liberals as anti-British for wanting stronger American economic ties. Liberal trade policy was also  unpopular in  growing manufacturing centers in Canada, including Berlin, Ontario. The Canadian manufacturing sector favoured trade tariffs due to the economic benefits they received. As a result, the 1911 election saw Canadians, who worked in the manufacturing sector, voting Conservative to protect Canadian economic interests. They voted this way to also maintain a Canadian identity unique from the United States. Not only did this demonstrate the growing influence of Canadian workers, it demonstrated budding Canadian nationalism, rooted in imperialism, and separation from the United States.

(Brown, Robert Craig, and Ramsay Cook. Canada: 1896-1921: A Nation Transformed.  Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1974; MacKenzie, David, and Patrice Dutil. Canada 1911: The Decisive Election that Shaped the Country. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2011.)

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Early Economic Development (1912)

By • On • In Economics, Pre 1914, Storyboards

Waterloo Region developed initially as an agricultural center. While the region as a whole never lost this feature, by the outbreak of the First World War, key industrial centers had developed, particularly in Galt and Berlin. These two centers developed at a relatively similar pace between 1870 and 1900. Galt, in Waterloo South, was industrially dominant until the turn of the 20th century, when Berlin superseded Galt’s industrial capacity, power, and population. By 1901, there were 2,360 employees in Waterloo South, and 2,993 in Waterloo North in the industrial sectors.

Waterloo South continued to produce flour, dairy products, wood products, woolen goods, and machine parts, amongst other manufacturing. Waterloo North, particularly Berlin, began producing goods of another nature, including furniture, men’s and women’s clothes, gloves, leather, buttons, shoes and boots, as well as trunks. By 1911, Waterloo South had 5,899 employees working in their 116 manufacturing establishments; Waterloo North had 5,785 employees working in their 147 establishments – 120 of which were factories. Many of Berlin’s factories were granted contracts to produce goods for the war effort in the summer of 1914. Here are a few examples of businesses in “Busy Berlin.”

(Hayes, Geoffrey. Waterloo County: An Illustrated History. Waterloo: Waterloo Historical Society, 1997,; McLaughlin, Ken. Made in Berlin. Kitchener: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum, 1989.; Fifth Census of Canada 1911, Volume II and III. C.H.Parmelee: Ottawa, 1912.; Fourth Census of Canada 1901, Volume II and III. Ottawa: S.E.Dawson, 1902.; Third Census of Canada, 1890-91, Volume II and III. S.E.Dawson, 1893.; Second Census of Canada, 1880-81, Volume II and III. Maclean, Roger & Co: Ottawa, 1883.; First Census of Canada, 1870-71 Volume II and III. Ottawa: I.B. Taylor, 1873.)

 

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William Daum Euler (1914)  

By • On • In Politics, Pre 1914, Storyboards

William Euler was born in Conestogo, Ontario on 10 July, 1875. Euler was elected as Mayor of Berlin in 1914, and served until he ran for federal politics in 1917 against William Weichel as an Opposition (Liberal) candidate, and represented Waterloo North until his appointment to the Senate in 1940. Euler reacted publicly to anti-German sentiments and actions at the outbreak of the First World War.

(PARLINFO, “Euler, The Hon. William Daum.” Accessed April 20, 2014. http://www.parl.gc.ca/)

 

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