The Company Store: J. B. McLachlan and the Cape Breton Coal Miners 1900-1925

by John Mellor

J. B. McLachlan was a fiery, idealistic Scot who came to Canada with a vision of a better world. He settled in Cape Breton, and there he worked in the coalmines beside hundreds of men and boys from all parts of the world.
In the first decades of the twentieth century mine owners cared little for safety or working miners and their families were virtual serfs of the company. As their wages were squeezed lower, mine workers fought back through their union--with J. B. McLachlan at its head. The response of the authorities was fierce. The miners faced soldiers, machine guns, prison sentences, starvation, homelessness. They were betrayed by American union leaders. Throughout, J. B. McLachlan stood firm for his principles and ideals.
The Company Store is the story of a remarkable Canadian, and of a little-known part of our industrial past.

Genres: History

362 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[kjb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is also the story of the hero and spokesman for the miners, James B. McLachlan, a miner blacklisted for union activities in Scotland and in Cape Breton as well. He was a union organizer and secretary-treasurer of the United Mine-workers of Nova Scotia and its successors, a Communist Party member for a while in the twenties and later a supporter of the CCF. His is the only human story that emerges from the book. If you think Cape Breton is a depressed area now, you must read this description of it in the first thirty years of this century. The coal miners toiled for fourteen-hour days, for a pittance in wages, lived in company-owned houses, were members of a company-controlled union, studied in company-financed schools, walked on company-built streets, used company-controlled water and electricity, called on the services of company-paid doctors, and shopped on credit at the company store. The cost of all these services was deducted from their weekly pay envelope, so they were always in debt to the company. And the company, from BESCO to DOSCO, did not love its workers. This was no paternalistic, community-based corporation dedicated to small profits and the well-being of the people it employed; this was a multinational corporation, headquartered in Montreal, profiteering during World War I and demanding their employees take pay cuts in the 1920s. There were seven strikes between 1904 and 1925, none of which won any notable concessions and most of which were ended by a combination of goon squads, a weak and company-influenced provincial government, a biased judicial system, a treacherous union (the United Mineworkers of America, led by John L. Lewis), a cold Cape Breton winter, destitution, privation, and starvation.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only 1x months after starting this book (it was lost for 17 months of those) I have finally finished reading it.

It's not a fun read. It covers the history of the early days of the coal mining unions of Cape Breton; days when miners and their families starved for meagre pay and "sold their souls to the company store."

This was a dry read. Excerpts from miners and family members added some personality and I'd have liked more of that - the personal stories.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Story or Coal Mining in Cape Breton is one of the classic stories of how this country developed and why it may be the way it is today. You need to understand J.B. McLachlan in order to understand coal and you need to understand coal in order to be able to understand modern society.

[Smooth Herman · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not particularly well or compellingly written, this book is an extremely important recitation of facts and opinions demonstrating the intergenerational trauma suffered by the good people of industrial Cape Breton and beyond. In some ways I feel it read like a grand ‘tall tale’ and I really wish the author had been able to more definitively document the suffering of the populace without relying on general statements, particularly during the 1925 strike. (While I can understand that most families would have a difficult time talking about their dead children, surely some examples could be found? This would’ve added a lot of weight against Premier Armstrong’s statements in his letter to the Saskatchewan church)

The dollar amounts given are not adjusted to even the time period in which it was written so ‘near poverty’ levels of pay did not really hit home.

The book is an important chronicle of my hometown which is why I gave it the fourth star. It helps me understand the lingering anger always simmering beneath the surface of Cape Breton culture.

[M.J. Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Company Store is an interesting biography of the Cape Breton union activist, J.B. McLachlan. It is a passionate and entertaining book however, it is also very biased, outdated and did not use an appropriate historical methodology.

Two things about this book are important to recognize 1) it was the first book about McLachlan's life and therefore contains interesting anecdotes that may have otherwise been lost; 2) it contains interviews of people who were present at the events described, many of whom had died by the writing of Frank's second better written biography.

The Company Store is an entertaining, quick read for those who who wish to gain a very basic understanding of the labour unrest in Cape Breton between 1903 and 1925, but should be taken with a grain of salt.

[Daniel Macgregor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads like an historical epic of a great figure fighting a worthy struggle, while also being backed up by an army of sources of all stripes, meaning this a rare worthy story backed up by the truth of evidence. Highly recommend for anyone interested in labour issues or Cape Breton.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

All Nova Scotians should read this book so they understand the hardships of Cape Breton coal miners, steelworkers and their family’s in the early 20th century. It’s an eye opening recollection of Jim McLachlan’s role in dedicating his life to advocating for coal miners.

[Abbie Halas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that looks into the labour movements and history surrounding the Cape Breton coal mines. You can't make this stuff up, great read and would definitely recommend!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is an interesting topic, but I just couldn't at the time. I liked finding out that our first PM would sometimes vomit at the podium though.