J. S. WOODSWORTH WAS KNOWN to Canadians in a number of ways -- as
a Methodist preacher, as a social worker, as a voluble pacifist, and as
a socialist politician who was the father of the Co-operative Common-
wealth Federation.

Since his death in 1942 there have been many and varying estimates
of his achievement. Such estimates do not run the same wide gamut
permissible to violent partisanship during his lifetime (when he was
known in some circles as "a dirty bolshevist" and a "red rabble-rouser
in the pay of Moscow"). Nearly all agree that he was an outstanding
man. But some, using the criteria of success, of the willingness to
compromise on major as well as on minor issues, call him a "saintly
failure." Others say he was an absolute pacifist in an age of war, and
thus he failed to resolve "a contradiction in his own philosophy" of
liberal-socialism.

The fact is that Woodsworth was a success by any standard other
than that of expediency. His pacifism was no contradiction, but rather
the keystone of the arch which unified all his thinking. One does not
"resolve" anything by simple compromise; this was his message to
Canadians.

Perhaps his greatest achievement was his consistent battle against
the demands of institutional conformity -- a baffle waged so effectively
that even while denying the right of anyone to expect conformity from
others he was able to bring forth solid progressive measures and
to guarantee for future generations a position from which to obtain
still further progress. His is a story of moral courage unsurpassed in
Canadian history. To tell that story, in its context, is the purpose of
this book.

In the preparation of this biography many people have given
assistance. I wish particularly to thank Professor Frank H. Underhill
who encouraged me in the writing of a preliminary study as a thesis
for the University of Toronto; Mrs. J. S. Woodsworth, Mrs. Angus
MacInnis, and Mr. Charles Woodsworth for their interest and help;
and the following who read the manuscript at various stages: my wife;
Professor J. H. Stewart Reid; and Mr. and Mrs. R. G. Prodrick.

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