The Law Society at War
Supporting the War Effort
From the outbreak of war in August 1914,
there was no doubt that the Law
Society of Upper Canada firmly supported the war effort. Treasurer George Shepley convened a special meeting on September 2nd to afford Convocation "an opportunity to decide, in advance of any pressure at all, whether
from within or without, what its course should be." At that meeting the Benchers subscribed $10,000 to the Canadian Patriotic Fund. During the course of
the war, Convocation pledged more than $25,000 to charitable organizations
that sought to relieve the suffering of soldiers and civilians. The Canadian
Patriotic Fund was the principal beneficiary, receiving over $20,000.
Smaller sums were granted to the Belgian Lawyers Relief Fund, the British
Red Cross Society, and the Navy League.
In addition to contributing financially to the war effort, the Law Society permitted Osgoode Hall to be used for military purposes. In February 1916, the Benchers granted permission to the 134th Battalion to use classrooms for lectures. Possibly recalling stories about the damage that had occurred when Osgoode Hall was occupied by troops at the time of the Rebellion of 1837, the Benchers put strict conditions on the use of the building. The men were to be marched into the lecture rooms under the direction of an officer, and marched off the grounds afterwards. The Battalion was ordered to clean the rooms and pay for any electric lighting they used.
The Law Society also played an important role in matters more directly related to the war. The Benchers promoted the training of troops through the Osgoode Hall Rifle Association and enacted measures that encouraged law students, members and Law Society staff to enlist.
The Osgoode Hall Rifle Association
Founded in late August 1914, the Osgoode Hall Rifle
Association was the first of many such associations formed in compliance
with regulations of the Militia Act at the 
outbreak
of the war. Its founding members responded to the "practically unanimous
feeling that we [the legal profession] should be actually doing something
to show our willingness to be prepared for any eventualities."
The objects of the Association included taking a "useful part in military preparedness" and stimulating "a patriotic spirit in the community which shall ensure an immediate response of sufficient recruits of the best calibre." Membership was open to judges, lawyers, law students, legal officials, and others associated with the law. Members paid an enrolment fee of $1 for students and $4 for barristers. The Association's Captain was Major B. Holford Ardagh, who later became Secretary of the Law Society .
![Armouries [1914?]; City of Toronto Archives, SC 244 HEM 766B](images/armouries.jpg)
From
late 1914 to late 1915, its nearly 300 members held 34 drills and underwent
a "considerable amount of rifle practice." They used three Ross Rifles
and three target rifles that the Law Society provided, as well as Winchester
Rifles loaned by the City of Toronto. Target practice took place at Long
Branch Rifle Range in the City's west end, at the Armouries behind Osgoode
Hall, and at a miniature rifle range on the grounds of Osgoode Hall.
By January 1916, 350 members appeared on the Association's roll, but its activities were diminishing and drills were discontinued because many of its members, its Captain included, were in active service. The unused ammunition was sold. The Association was in debt for more than $200 that year, a sum that the Benchers at Convocation voted to cover for the Association's Treasurer, R.S. Cassels.
During
the height of its activities in late 1915 and early 1916, the Osgoode
Hall Rifle Association not only trained its members for military service,
but encouraged them to enlist. The Association targeted law students in
particular. In response to Ardagh's suggestion that regulations be passed
to force students to drill with the Association or to join a city regiment,
Principal Newman Hoyles was asked to report "at once as to military affiliations
of all students in attendance at Law School" and to identify "those who
may not be able to drill on account of physical disability."
Encouraging Enlistment
From early on, Benchers encouraged law students and lawyers to enlist. In February 1915 Convocation voted to allow students to advance one year without examination if they were to volunteer, enlist, qualify, and go to the front and "return in good standing and having borne themselves as members of the Law Society and soldiers ought to do." Third year students could be called to the bar without examination.
Later in 1915, Convocation decided to remit the fees of
all lawyers engaged in active service. While this would not have been an enticement to enlist, it demonstrated the
commitment of Benchers to the war effort. Similarly, Benchers granted leaves
of absence to staff who wished to serve overseas. Henry Haight, an assistant
librarian, was granted a leave of absence for one year with half pay in 1915.
He was still on leave early in 1917.
Occasionally Benchers expressed the desire for more heavy-handed measures to ensure that students in particular do their duty in the war. The Benchers expected able-bodied students and many members to enlist, and to share their keen support for the war effort. Occasionally individuals suspected of not supporting the war to the standards of the Benchers were called on to account for their behaviour.
In early 1916 a first year student found himself before the Discipline Committee, accused of having made treasonable statements in an interview with a Massachusetts newspaper. The Chief Press Censor for Canada had reported him to the Law Society. The student claimed that he had been misquoted and "that he did not make use of any expressions which indicate hostility to the Allies, or cast any reflections upon Canada's connection with the war." The Committee ordered the student "to be careful in future about statements that he makes."
Late in 1917 another member was brought to the attention of the Committee because he had allegedly claimed exemption from military service on the grounds of being Austrian. The member denied that allegation, explaining that he had asked for a medical re-examination on account of his eyesight, but that he had since withdrawn any claim he might have had on physical grounds to exemption.
Recruitment efforts among the legal profession and law students were extraordinarily successful. Altogether about 300 lawyers and more than 200 law students served in the First World War, a remarkable number considering that there was a total of about 1,700 lawyers in the province in 1918.
