letter to bennett assignment

But the tough-talking bachelor had a far different private face. Bennett was a kindly and generous man who donated $25,000 a year to numerous charities. And during the darkest days of the Depression, Bennetts compassion and humanity shone through.

The Prime Minister received hundreds of letters from desperate Canadians requesting help. Alone in his seventeen-room suite at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa, Bennett worked through the night, trying to keep up with an endless chorus of heartbreak and despair.

Here are samples of letters to R.B Bennett exactly as written:

I am writing to see if their is any help I could get.
As I have a baby thirteen days old that only weighs
one pound and I have to keep in cotton Wool & Olive Oil,
and I havent the money to buy it, if their is any help I could get
their will be two votes for you next election
Hoping to hear from you soon
Yours Truly,
Mrs. Jack OHannen
Murray Harbour, PEI

Her letter to the Prime Minister was Mrs. Jack OHannens last hope. When he received it, Bennett opened his wallet and sent the young mother five dollars - enough money to cover groceries for about a month..

I believe you to be good as well as a great man
therefore I am appealing to you to save my home.
Picture yourself, through no fault of your own,
homeless with sons willing, but unable to provide for you.
Please help me or tell me what I can do.
Yours Sincerely and hopefully, Laura Bates.
Toronto Sept 3, 1933

Dear Madam,
I am certainly willing to help you and if you will be good enough to let me know what company holds the mortgage on your home I will look into the matter and see if anything can be done to straighten out your difficulties.
yours faithfully,
R.B. Bennett

Three little baby boys were born to Mr. and Mrs. Samuels in our vicinity.
Like many others they have had some very bad luck.
The parents are a very fine type, not the kind with the hand out for help.
We hope you will feel toward these unfortunate people the way we do.
Yours truly,
Elizabeth Ratray
Welsley Ont,
Sept. 27,1933

It is with a very humble heart that I take the opportunity of writing this letter to ask you if you will please send for this underware for my husband from the Eaton catalog. I can manage but my husband has arthritis very bad at times in his arms and shoulders. I have patched and darned his old underwear for the last two years, but they are completely done now. If you cant do this I really dont know what to do.
Mrs. Thomas Perkins
Kingdom Saskatchewan
Sept 28, 1933

Prime Minister RB Bennett
dear Sir received your kind favour of underware for my husband. We wish to thank you very much for it. We sure are thankful for your kindness
Mr and Mrs. Thomas Perkins
Kingdom, Saskachewan
Nov 15 1933

I am a litte boy eight years old and Im in Grade III at school. Ive wanted a littel red wagon to hich my dog to for so many year, but daddy has no money. Please, Mr. Bennett would you send me enuff money to buy my wagon. Thank you so much.
Your very good friend,
Maurice Stanley

Dear Mr. Bennett,
Thank very much for the money. Im going to get the wagon. Mamma said I could.
Ardath Sask
Aug 31, 1935

R.B Bennett personally answered many of the hundreds of letters he received during the Great Depression, often giving money from his own pocket to needy Canadians. The Prime Minister received little public recognition for his private kindness.

Canadian History Fall 2018

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Dear Mr. Bennett, a letter from the Great Depression

During the worst part of the Great Depression many Canadians wrote to the Prime Minister to explain their situations and in some cases ask for help. Canadian Prime Minister R.B Bennett personally received thousands of letters from desperate citizens during the depression years.

Based on what you have learned this unit and the scenarios examined, write a brief post to R.B Bennett attempting to recreate the fear and desperation felt by the people who lived through the Great Depression. In your post, you will assume the identity of a Canadian living through the Depression era.

Possible identities:

A laid-off steelworker from Hamiton struggling to support his family

High school student approaching graduation

A Stock Broker who lost everything during the 1929 Crash

Mother of small children struggling to care for her family

A farmer in Saskatchewan dealing with the drought

WWI veteran questioning his sacrifice and looking for a job

Relief Camp Worker explaining the conditions of the camps

The owner of the Williams Radio Company that went bankrupt

A Union organizer and political activist with the CCF

Each Canadian had different, and at the same time, similar problems. Briefly describe your circumstances (as one of the characters) and what you would like the Prime Minister to do to alleviate the difficulties associated with the crisis. If possible or related, make references to people, events and things having an impact on your situation. See the list below. Your post should include and or refer to at least FIVE.

29 Replies to “Dear Mr. Bennett, a letter from the Great Depression”

Toronto, Ontario,1933

Dear Mr Bennett

Hello Mr Bennett just as the others writing you, you do not know me. But I am in need of your help. My husband killed himself due to the embarrassment of not being able to provide for his family. As well as investing all we had Into the stock market prior to the stock market crash. He has left me alone with three kids. We have sold our Bennett buggy to get a little cash for food but it did not last long and we have visited the soup kitchen many times now. My husband has left so I am the only one able to provide for our family, yet it is nearly impossible for a women to get a job at this time. If no one highers me we will endup on the streets like so many others, starving and sick. My children need food so they can grow strong and work. We beg of you, I beg of you please help us. Give us some money to help us survive please.

Sincerely Angelina Woods

Dear Mrs Woods,

I have enclosed a $10 bill to help you and your family through these difficult times. Have the Relief Payments been enough to sustain your family? What other type of support are you receiving, and from what governmental departments or private organizations? I’d be curious to know. Please take care of yourself and hopefully my cabinet and I can guide our country towards more prosperous times.

Yours truly,

R.B. Bennett

Thank you so much for your generosity this will go to great use in our house. The relief payments have been assisting us a bit yes. It has been hard to balance because my husband was in great Dept but we’re slowly paying it back and in four years it should be gone! Once again thank you Mr Bennett.

Regina, Saskatchewan, 1934.

Hello, Mister Bennett.

I am a union organizer and am associated with the CCF. I do not understand why you are not doing anything to help the Canadian situation here. I voted for you because of the 5 cent speech, I thought King was gonna force us to vote for him, or else we wouldn’t be given any money. But it turns out you’re just letting the economy do it’s own thing, which is collapsing. Why don’t you just give out some of the millions you have so the businesses don’t fail and the economy recovers quicker? The demand for pretty much everything is falling, since the people can’t afford it. You’re only helping the decline of the economy. The stock market wasn’t supposed to crash and get worse, the people over here are starving and their families are homeless. The people in relief camps aren’t any better, I know, because my friend went there, and he told me they were still feeling poor and that the relief camp only makes him sad. He even said people were talking about voting for the communists. He also talked about the on to Ottawa trek and how you arrested all those innocent people in Regina. Why would you do such a thing to peaceful trekkers? They left because the conditions of the relief camps were terrible and they were being belittled by the camp workers. I truly think about forming a union against these actions, or convincing the CCF to help us with this situation and convincing the government to help. Hopefully I can talk to Woodworth personally. Me and my family have been forced to swallow our pride and go to the soup kitchens and apply for relief payments. The food is terrible, and the people at the relief office make you feel like absolute dirt. How could you let this injustice continue to happen when you can probably solve it if you just tried hard enough? Your hands off approach is just helping the world economy collapse.

I hope you at least attempt to fix this, Mister Bennett.

Yours truly, John Mowery

Dear Mr. Mowery,

I hear what you and others are saying, and I want to help. The Conservative Party is going to find work for all who are willing to work, or perish in the attempt. In the last five years great changes have taken place in the world, and the old order is gone. We are living in conditions that are new and strange to us. I am for reform and reform means government intervention. My new deal promisses more progressive taxation, unemployment insurance, health insurance, closer regulation of working conditions and social reforms. I too have heard about the conditions in the relief camps. I’d be interested to hear what your friend said. Can you give me some details about the relief camps and some of the major complaints? I could use this information to improve how our government serves these men. Thanks again John and be well.

Hamilton, Ontario, 1933

Dear Mr. Bennett,

I’m writing to you because I have no other option now. My name is Duncan Schmitz and I was an active soldier in WW1, I have a wife and 2 small children, just 8 and 6 years old. After the war I came home to basically nothing. I had no family to come home since my parents passed while I was in the Battle of Passchendaele so I had to source for a job, and eventually got one at General Electric in Hamilton. A few years later I met my “soon to be wife”. Eventually we were stable enough to start a family, so we had 2 kids, a son and a daughter. We bought a new house, We got a new car, and were living life to the fullest. Since that stock market crash of 1929 our income has been dwindling down everyday. Our wages were cut, our hours were cut, but more recently I lost my job at General Electric so now we have no income to support our family. We were forced to take the engine out of our car because we can’t afford gas which you like to call a “Bennett Buggy”. My wife can’t work because she isn’t allowed to here so all this is put onto my shoulders which is why I’m desperately writing to you, to save our family. Since we have no money for food we’ve been forced to go to a soup kitchen for food. I just don’t understand how you could let something like this happen to someone who fought for our country… and I’m not the only veteran suffering. You have the most power in this country and all I ask for is my job back, without a job my family will suffer.

Yours truly, Duncan Schmitz

Dear Mr. Schmitz,

Thank you for your service to our country. These are difficult times and we must persevere. So far my governments initiatives have offered Canadians no concrete ways to get back to work, and for that I feel bad. I realize that some Canadians look at a bachelor living in style at the Château Laurier Hotel in Ottawa and wonder how he could ever understand their misery. I have become the target of endless jokes. As you said, cars being towed by horses because there is no money for fuel have been called “Bennett buggies.” I’m not proud of my performance as Prime Minister so far, but I promise a better plan for the future. As far as the Relief Payments, do you find them sufficient enough? How are your children copping? Children are our future and most have hope for a better future. Please hold hope for better days. Together we will overcome.

Your truly,

Toronto, Ontario, 1933

Dear Mr Bennet,

Hello my name is Judy, I am a single mother, my husband Nicholas left us about 3 weeks ago after he got laid off, he got laid off because the company was going bankrupt, he’s now riding the rails. I have 4 kids and I’m unemployed, my kids and I go to soup kitchens to eat. The meals at the soup kitchen were served on a tin plate and it was white beans boiled in water only, two slices of dry bread and a mug of tea or coffee maybe, it was hard to judge. We collect relief payments but we are barely staying alive, 2 of my sons are getting very sick because we don’t have heat and it’s the middle of the winter in Canada. This past 3 weeks I have become very depressed, I don’t know what to do anymore. My family doesn’t even have enough blankets to keep us warm at night, I sleep with no blankets and we only have 1 bed that all the kids have to share. I sleep on the ground every night cold and hungry. Please do something to help people like us.

From Judy Brown

Dear Mrs. Brown,

I have enclosed $10 for you and your family. I’m sorry to hear about your conditions. It’s too bad that your husband felt that abandoning his wife and children were his only option. Have you heard from him lately? You mentioned Riding the Rails, what exactly does that mean? I’ve heard people around my office use that term or phrase, but nobody has had the time to explain what it refers to. Stay strong my friend.

Kamploops, British Columbia., August 1933

I am a Relief Camp worker. The conditions of our camps are become very poor due to the amounts of men entering our camp. By 1932, there were an estimated 70,000 unemployed transients. Many of the men congregated in cities and frustration was growing among their ranks. We have to pay more than we earn for the clothing, food, and money we pay to the men. Our camp is located In Kamploops, B.C in August of 1933. Our camp is very poor when it comes to wages and it’s becoming a problem because most men have threatened to leave the establishment and return to the streets where they got kicked off of and came here. This is a big problem because the men were kicked off the streets because they are unemployed and were possible threats and if they return to the streets we would be introuble. We are also getting four times as many men than we used to due to the Great Depression. Our establishment doesn’t have enough funds to the point where our camp members have to put their own money into the food for the men and the clothing and the tools for the work and the water for showering and bedding. The government gives us funds but not enough for all of the things our camps relies on. Most of our men went On to Ottawa Trek and came back unsuccessful which led them here to their last chance. The rooms are like shacks with no windows, along each side there is a row of double deck bunks that are spaced off with a board so that there is room for two men in each bunk. In the Regina Riot trekkers were protesting to have higher wages and it ended in a riot because you wanted to arrest them which turned to a huge riot where one officer was killed, dozens of people were injured and 130 protesters were arrested. The Regina Riot ended the trek – and nothing changed for camp workers. The food is lousy and the milk is often not fresh also the meat is poor quality in many camps. The conditions of the water were poor because we cant pay due to initial funds and the state of our camp is very poor. It would be very helpful if you could give some money to our camp so we can pay for the essentials needed to run the camp and give some money to the single men in our camp to get back on their feet, so men don’t leave and get arrested then your jails will fill up.

Thank you and Sincerely yours Illija Ratkovic

Dear Mr. Ratkovic,

Thank you for the work you are doing in the Relief Camps. These are difficult times. As you might know, I have given the provinces $20 million for relief programs. I also created these labour camps to provide unemployed single men with a subsistence living. Anything more than subsistence would be un-Canadian! What specifically more should I do? I don’t want these men to believe that it’s the governments job to support them forever. You are good Canadian Illija, but what more can I do?

Toronto Ontario 1934

Hello Mr Bennett I am writing to you because I am in need of assistance. I have no money and am in need of some. I use to have a lot, I use to be a stock broker but that all changed in the stock market crash. In the beginning I gave to the soup kitchen to help the less fortunate people, but soon had to stop. I even myself had to use a soup kitchen to eat this past month. The meals I had was a plate of white beans in water only two slices of dry bread and a mug of tea or coffee maybe the soup kitchen was an ordeal the long Line ups of 100 men. I can no longer afford gasoline and now my car has became a Bennett buggy. I have sold most of my possessions and used the money to keep the house another month. I have seen the homeless walking and begging I do not wish to be one of them, once I get enough money I plan to help them get back on their feet. I have been reading about the CCF and will never vote for King and the Liberals. Can you please help me?

Sincerely your faithful citizen, Alexander Lewis

Dear Mr. Lewis,

I have enclosed $5 for you. I am sorry to hear about your situation. These are difficult times. Have you considered going to work at a relief camp until the economy improves? At least its a job, a place to sleep and three square meals a day. Do you have any other options?

Dear Mr.Bennett, Hello my name is Jennifer, I am a mother of three. I am currently living in a small basement apartment in the outer parts of town. I do not have a real job so I am trying to make money by selling t-shirts with the trades I learned while I was young. My husband had left a week ago prior to today. Before he left he was a stock broker and got laid off of work four weeks after the stock market crash in 1929. He left last week to go to Quebec to try and find better work. I am on relief payments on top of the shirt making I do to get by on the rent, after rent and shirt materials I don’t have money for food so my kids and I go to soup kitchens at a church. The same church. I go to Tuesday Saturday and Sunday to try and sell shirts. At church I was reading the newspaper over a cup of tea and I heard about the W.L Mackenzie King speech and how he said he wouldn’t give 5 cent and that made me very mad. The fact that he can’t put himself in other people’s shoes and think about what we are going through makes me so angry. Me and my kids are struggling and I feel like the government should do more for people, not just relief payments. There needs to be payments for mothers like me to get money monthly to support the children. Mr. Bennett you are striving and doing amazing at what you do I am appealing to you to help me save my family. I am asking you to lend me 5 dollars to buy some food for my kids, this isn’t a small need this is something I need now.

Sincerely yours, Jennifer

Dear Jennifer,

I have enclosed a $10 bill to help you and your family through these difficult times. Have the Relief Payments been enough to sustain your family? Do you have family that can help you? It’s seems that a lot of people that have been crushed by these difficult times have found help from their extended families. Maybe that could be an option for you and your children. Please take care of yourself and hopefully my cabinet and I can guide our country towards more prosperous times.

Regina, Saskatchewan Dear Mr. Bennett

I am a farmer from Saskatchewan and my farm is suffering from a drought. My farm is a very important thing to my family, it’s important because we need the farm to get food and we sell the extras for money to support the family.

The drought is drying out our top soil and when we have strong winds the very fine and loose soil flies away into a Dust bowl. When I do have some crops growing, lots and lots of grasshoppers come and infest my crops and eat everything.

The ground has been worked so hard from our machines the dirt is now very fine. It was so fine that the winds could pick it up, and that just happened. When the dust bowl happens we can’t even see 20 feet in front. The dirt gets into the house and it’s a struggle to clean up.

The CCF says the farmers land should be protected from mortgage foreclosures. The CCF is the co-operative Commonwealth Federation, it was founded in 1932 in Calgary. Their leader JS Woodsworth and he has been fighting for common people like me for years.

Mr. Bennett I think your a really good guy, I need help on my farm.

Sincerely Zack

These are tough and difficult times my friend. We need to stand together and persevere. As your Prime Minister I promise to do everything possible to help Canadians. After four years in office I have advised my cabinet to take some radical action. We will borrow ideas from American president Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and develop a Canadian version of the plan to combat the Depression. I hope this gives you hope.

Have you considered selling your farm? Is this an option? All options should be on the table. Stay strong.

Hamilton, Ontario, 1933 Dear Mr. Bennett I am a WW1 vet. I came back from the war and started a family. Found a lovely wife and had some children, found some work and I bought a new house, car and I was doing well for myself. Then the stock market crash came then everything started to go downhill. I lost my job and I could barely afford to pay rent. We have to go and get some relief payments just to support are family. My new car I had to take out the engine because I couldn’t afford gas and use horses. My family and I were going into poverty we had to start going to the soup kitchen. We had to go there everyday just to get some food I tried to get a job there but they weren’t hiring and for you Mr. Bennett you have to start doing something about this poverty because Mr. king and his 5 cent speech promising to end this poverty and in Alberta and their government is giving $25 per month to try and stop their poverty. We need you to do something for the vets like give them money or something so that they can support their family’s because they sacrificed their selves for this country, my best friend died in the war like how am I supposed to forget that? At least do something for the family’s that their husbands and fathers that died in the war because their wife’s cant work and need money for their family’s and themselves. Me and my family already sold everything. Sincerely Xander Clark

Dear Mr. Clark,

The Conservative Party is going to find work for all who are willing to work, or perish in the attempt. Mr. King promises consideration of the problem of employment. I promise to end unemployment. Which plan do you like best? I plan on doing everything in my power to get people back to work, but we also have to let the market correct itself. It’s not the governments job to intervene whenever things go wrong with the economy. These things eventually work themselves out. Hang in there Mr. Clark.

I like how your going to find work for all the people that want to work and are willing to work and I like how your party is trying to end unemployment. I agree that it’s not the governments job to intervene but at least try and help people with a trade job so they could start a business from there own home and start making money or even get some people in your offices to get stuff for you to make a bit of money or you could raise a bit of money for the veterans that can’t work because of injuries and stuff like that. Sincerely Xander Clark

Toronto ,Ontario 1933

Dear Mr Bennett ,

My name is Hayden wade and I have a beautiful wife and two kids, before the stock market crash I was a stock broker and I had lots of money and I could afford food to feed my family , but once the stock market crash in 1929 happened I lost everything , I had no money , 8 could barely feed my family , we all had the tiniest portions of food and now were eating from soup kitchens, and we are very close to be homeless. We borrowed money to buy the stickers ,but we couldn’t pay back our debt and we started to lose everything and we can barely survive now… Mr Bennett , can you please help us out by lisensing relief payments ?

Sincerely, Hayden wade

Dear Mr. Wade,

I have enclosed $5 for you and your family. I hope this helps to temporarily allieviate your situation. Our government expects the economy to turn around eventually. For the immediate future, hold tight and be strong. I’m glad you have found some relief from the charity of local soup kitchens. As I’ve said to others, we need to take care of one another, especially our families. Hopefully you the support of your extended family. Is this an option for? Do you have relatives in the country? If so, I suggest you send your immediate family with relatives and seek work in the Relief Camps. Please stay in contact and tell me if this option works for you. Stay strong.

bjohnson2807 NOVEMBER 23, 2018 AT 2:27 PM EDIT Dear prime Minister Bennett. 24/9/1934

My name is Brayden Johnson, I am 17 about to graduate High school. About 6 years ago my parents invested all of our money in the stocks, then the market crashed and we lost everything, our house, we ran out of food. We go to the soup kitchens so much that they know us by name. I feel like our government isn’t even trying to make things better. Both my parents got laid off their jobs and my dad travels the streets every single day looking for work. I came home last night to them arguing loudly from the basement, I heard them say they want to send my little sister and I down south while They try to make some money, hearing that ripped my heart to shreds, and my father thinks I don’t know but I do, I do know he wants to leave us but he doesn’t have the guts to do so. I can’t take this anymore. But now I’m thinking about myself when I graduate. What are you expecting me to do for work when there are absolutely no jobs around. We are hungry, upset, tired, and sick of having to collect welfare. Please help mr Bennett.

Brayden Johnson

Dear Brayden,

Our country needs you and your generation to stay positive. Things will get better, I promise. Until then, do what you can to help your parents. Look for odd jobs in your community. Have you considered joining the Canadian Military? Does this sound like something you might consider? I suggest this because you are single and have no family of your own to care for. Stay strong Brayden.

Brampton/Ontario/1930

Dear mr Bennett,

My name is noah sheldrick I am a veteran from the war, You probably are too busy with your own problems and won’t care to read a letter from a poor guy like me asking the Prime Minister of Canada to do him a favour, but I can not help it, I sacrificed my life for this country in 1914 and what did I get for it? Nothing, when I got home the 1920s where so good I bought a brand new model T, I had a house with my beautiful wife and my two baby boys, Frank and John I had a stable Money flow for a man that got his arm blown off by a tank. I had food I had a happy life. when William Lyon Mackenzie was elected he was a horrible prime minister, he was even worse than you at running a country. But Mackenzie didn’t make promises he couldn’t keep, he was a liberal, so he didn’t want to give any support to the Conservative run provinces, After the stock market crash last year, Mackenzie wasn’t doing anything to help, and you promised more progressive taxation, unemployment insurance, health insurance, closer regulation of working conditions and social reforms, so I voted for you. Everything’s getting worse now that you’re our prime minister, my wife left me and she took the kids, I can’t get a job because how’s I guy with one arm supposed to do hard labor, I’m so broke I have to eat at soup kitchens, and also I had to sell my model t engine and now it’s a Bennett buggy, I’ve even had to receive relief payments to get some clothes because I have had to burn all me other clothes to stay warm and not freeze to death. I just want you to help me out a little, You might ask your self who is this guy. well I was born in Brampton forty two years ago. My dad was a good old consirvative ever since I can remember & ever since I had a vote, I voted consirvative & always will. I do not know you personal but have listened to your public speaches many times, please help me Richard Bedford Bennett you’re all I got.

YOURS TRULY N.SHELDRICK

I have enclosed $10 to help you through these difficult times. All Canadians thank you for your service and wish you well. Unfortunately, there is little I can do. As a Conservative, you realize that it is not our belief or view that governments should get too involved with the economy. These things must work themselves out. I suggest that you inquire about re-training yourself for a job that you can manage with your situation. We need to be strong during these difficult times. I wish you well sir.

Dear Mr Bennett, I would like to keep my name off the books , I am a relief camp worker and I want to tell you how much of a living hell it is for me to be in a relief camp. There is a limited amount of food for everyone to eat , when I first came to the camp I was told we would get 3 meals a day , clean clothes , a bed and running water . That is all a lie I am wearing dirty clothing everyday , sleeping on a rat infested floor, the only water I have is the water that gathers in puddles when it rains. The last meal I had was a stale mouldy half, thin slice of bread muddy water and a half of a potato which was already eaten by the thefts who walk around at night while everyone sleeps. There was a very very small soup kitchen on the other side of the fence the smell of soup was over run by the smell of the shit hole five feet to my left. Its very dirty unhealthy and sick . I am reaching out to you because i voted for you and I helped you so you please help me.

Dear anonymous,

I realize that the conditions at the Relief Camps isn’t equal to that of a Five Star Hotel, but that was a conscious decision. Our government doesn’t want the workers to get too comfortable. Hopefully these conditions motivate you to try harder to find employment on your own. I suggest you save what you can while at the camp and look for opportunities elsewhere.

Yours truly, R.B. Bennett

Dear mr Bennet,

My name is Austin worth, I was a stock broker, but of course due to the stock market crash I lost everything. I am in need of your assistance in helping me through this horrible event, just like all of us are. now that the stock market is down i cant get me and my family food to eat,I cant just go out of my way to get the food we need from anywhere else beause that stock market crash left me with nothing, I lost my job as a stock broker due to this event. I used to have all the oney i could ever want, of course thats because i was a stock broker, I could give money to the less fortunate who needed it more than I did because they couldnt get a job, the meals I could bring home to my family, just wasnt enough to feed all of us so some nights me and my wife would have to go back and fourth with who would eat so our kids could eat. All I could bring home was a few pieces of bread, beans, peas, a little chicken and some water. I have witnessed what its like being poor by seeing it, now im starting to feel the pain, im hoping to get a job soon to help this get together properly but its gonna take some time. I have been looking at the CCF and definetly will not be voteing for the king or liberals. Please if you can help me it would be a blessing.

Yours truly, Austin Worth

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Canadian History CHC2L 2018

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Dear Mr. Bennett, a letter from the Great Depression

During the worst part of the Great Depression many Canadians wrote to the Prime Minister to explain their situations and in some cases ask for help. Canadian Prime Minister R.B Bennett personally received thousands of letters from desperate citizens during the depression years.

Based on what you have learned this unit and the scenarios examined, write a brief post to R.B Bennett attempting to recreate the fear and desperation felt by the people who lived through the Great Depression. In your post, you will assume the identity of a Canadian living through the Depression era.

Possible identities:

A laid-off steelworker from Hamiton struggling to support his family

A farmer in Saskatchewan dealing with the drought

Relief Camp Worker explaining the conditions of the camps

Each Canadian had different, and at the same time, similar problems. Briefly describe your circumstances (as one of the characters) and what you would like the Prime Minister to do to alleviate the difficulties associated with the crisis

5 Replies to “Dear Mr. Bennett, a letter from the Great Depression”

Regina, Saskatchewan.,1934

Dear Mr. Bennett After the stock market crash in 1929, things have not been going so well for me, I have too much wheat and I am running out of space and not a lot of people are buying my wheat, and now Europe has put tariffs on the wheat now the prices are to high. Now these grasshoppers are eating my crops and poisoning my food and animals which isn’t good me to eat, now there are dust bowls are making it hard to farm because of the drought. Me and the family herd William Aderhart’s preaches on the radio and I think that the social credit of $25 a month would be nice to have in my pocket, I would support that party but it sounds like he is not going to last long in government to give the money to people that need it the most. The family is getting fed up that people aren’t buying the food we make to pay for the house and the other things. If we don’t make money soon we might have to sell the form, but we don’t know if anyone would want to buy the it because of the drought.

Yours truly,

Miles, Morales

Hamilton, Ontario., 1934

Dear Mr. Bennett,

It all began, as far as I know, in 1929 and the Stock Market Crash. There may have been somes signs leading up to the crash, but nobody warned me.Stock market crash is when people that work had their money lower or taken away from them and everyone bagan to get laid off. At first the factory cut back our hours. Then, everyone’s wages got cut and then laid off and the people had to find ways to get around the struggles in the world like their wives,kids and a pet maybe and they there family when getting laid off. Today we rely on the generosity of others, especially churches and soup kitchens. Soup kitchens are kitchens the people who are poor and having problem with money. They would go their and get food from themselves and their family. Yesterday I applied for relief payments. Relief payments is when you go to the government office and get a loan from the government for your family to get by for the time being and to stabilize yourself. The number of unemployed men on the street is staggering. Unemployment is when you get laid off your job and you don’t have money to work anymore so they lay you off. Please help us Mr. Prime Minister.

Robert Smith

Hamilton, Ontario.,1934 Dear Mr. Bennett,

My name is Claire. My life was great, i have a family of 4, 3 daughters and 1 son. My husband passed away at the age of 52 due to lung cancer. My kids and i took the loss of their father and my dear husband very hard. I am now laid off, struggling to survive and i’m here to ask for help.

My life as a steel worker starting getting difficult when my job began to suffer from poor working conditions. A little while later, my wages were cut. Then, i was laid off. Supply and demand is an issue because less people are buying, which means less is being produced, and that’s causing layoffs. My family and i have been forced to go to soup kitchens because we cannot afford to eat otherwise. I am suggesting relief payments. In my situation, relief payments would help me to be able to support my family. As an unemployed man, i am struggling to support myself and my family and i need assistance.

Claire Robertson

Hamilton Ontario., 1934 Dear Mr.Bennett,

My name is Roland savard i was 19 years old when i started working as a steelworker. My life was good got 3 kids and a wife then in 1929 the stock market crash i was so happy i didn’t lose my job back then. But two years ago it was not good i used to get paid 30$ every hour now i get 10$ every hour my life is hard now because we cant have that much food now we all have to split are food to have food the next day for dinner. When we don’t have food are money to buy food we go to soup kitchen to get some food for 3 days like soup. Its already bad because two days ago we had to move out of are 220.000$ house in Hamtion and now we live in a basement that cost 100$ to live there but we have to pay the government 50$ every two weeks to have heat and light for are house. All im asking if you can give us some food every to weeks so we don’t need to worry about food when we just paid of the government

Roland savard

jkienzle1193 NOVEMBER 26, 2018 AT 11:19 AM EDIT Hamilton, Ontario, 1934

Dear Mr Bennett,

I have no other option but to write this letter to you, I have been working in the steel industry for 3 years. Until recently I had been laid off due to cutbacks and I can no longer support my family of five, I have my three sons and my daughter who is the youngest is getting really sick, we will have to send them off to my wife’s sister because of how bad things have gotten. We pray everyday that I get a job but if it were only as simple as praying. I feel as if I could die of embarrassment collectecting relief payments as well as having to go to soup kitchens where the plainest food to exist is but it helps to survive. Why isn’t the government doing anything for such terrible times as these when we need help the most, your government is as useless as it gets and I doubt things will get better with you in charge but I beg of you please do something to save poor families such as mine otherwise you’ll see my vote disappear.

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Watch CBS News

Key Words In The Ransom Note

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

April 8, 1999 / 12:17 PM EDT / CBS

When they first heard that a ransom note had been found, the father and son team of handwriting experts John and Paul Osborne were certain that the 370-word trail would lead straight to the killer of JonBenet Ramsey. They were wrong. CBS News 48 Hours Correspondent Erin Moriarty reports on the story behind this closely-analyzed letter, and on the complex field of writing analysis.

"What shocked me more than anything else was the idea that someone would go in a stranger's home and commit a crime as horrific as this particular crime and then sit down in the kitchen and write out two pages," says John Osborne. "If it wasn't a person who was intimately familiar and comfortable with the home, then it was a person who had a heck of a lot of nerve."

"It would be among the most primary pieces of evidence that an investigator would want considered in trying to identify who it was that committed the crime," Osborne said.

Ransom notes played an instrumental role in the Lindbergh baby kidnapping case, in which 12 to 13 ransom documents were found.

Paul's father and grandfather, pioneers in handwriting analysis, identified the writer of those notes. That man was later convicted in court. Unfortunately, in the Ramsey case, the ransom note has not been the big break authorities hoped for.

The problem: While JonBenet's father has been excluded as the author of the note, her mother has not. Sources tell 48 Hours that two analysts hired by the Ramsey family have ruled out Patsy Ramsey as the author. But state experts contend that while they can't say with certainty she wrote the note, they can't eliminate her either.

The reason may be that the author of the ransom note disguised his or her handwriting. "It appears the note at least from this copy begins in a fashion which could be described as writing that is tediously executed, and ends up with writing that appears to be more rapidly and freely executed," says John.

Today, Ramsey case investigators may be looking not only to handwriting experts, but to a man who believes it's not how you write but what you write that identifies you. "The vocabulary, the grammatical feature and so forth can now be shown to be genuinely distinctive of Shakespeare in a way not even closely matched by any other poet," says Donald Foster, a literature professor at Vassar College in New York.

Foster volunteered to help the Ramsey case investigators. He uses computers to analyze the content of documents to determine authorship. In 1995, he discovered that journalist Joe Klein was the anonymous writer of "Primary Colors" In 1997, he tied Theodore Kaczynski to the "Unibomber Manifesto."

He then turned to the Ramseys. He won't discuss his work in that case, but in trying to analyze the content of the ransom note, Foster had to contend with some phrases which seem to be borrowed from scripts of famous feature films.

For example, one lne boasts, "If we catch you talking to a stray dog, she dies." This sounds a lot like the movie Dirty Harry, in which one character said, "If you talk to anyone, I don't care if it's a Pekingese pissing against a lamppost, the girl dies."

Foster compared the ransom note to the writing style of suspects. Last summer, he gave investigators what the handwriting experts could not: a report, sources tell 48 Hours , that ties Patsy Ramsey to the ransom note.

But not everyone agrees with him. Sue Bennett, for one, says she has the evidence to prove Foster is wrong. How would a 47-year-old housewife from North Carolina know so much about this professor in New York? It's a bit of an odd story, and it begins on the Internet.

Like many Americans, Bennett became fascinated with the Ramsey case. She spent hours online discussing it. There she met Professor Foster. Bennett says that in May of 1997, a writer using the screen name "Jameson" caught Foster's attention.

There were literally hundreds of statements posted by Jameson, and this person seemed to know a lot about the murder and the Ramseys.

After analyzing Jameson's writings, Foster identified the writer as the 20-year-old half-brother of JonBenet: John Andrew Ramsey. And then, Foster went even further. In a letter dated June 10, 1997 to a literary agent, Foster announced he had solved this Colorado crime, naming John Andrew as the prime suspect, even though police had cleared the young man three months earlier.

So who is Jameson? Jameson is Sue Bennett.

"Somehow, this man who can tell everything from analyzing text had thousands of my pages of text, and determined that I could be a pedophile into S&M interests, who would murder a six-year-old child with a garrotte," says Bennett. "And I was devastated that somehow, something I did, said, would make him think that I could be that person."

Foster responded to Bennett's accusations in a letter to 48 Hours , saying he had just been speculating and had "never publicly accused anyone of anything." But this amateur Internet detective feels she has to speak out.

"If he was wrong with all my samples, I don't believe that there's any way that anyone should give him any credibility now judging Patsy Ramsey," says Bennett.

This matters only if the grand jury reads Foster's report and acts on it. At that point, the two-and-a-half page ransom note could once again become the crucial piece of evidence in the case.

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The wretched of Canada : letters to R. B. Bennett, 1930-1935

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