CANADIAN POETRY: OUR DEBT TO SPAINWorld War I saw Canadian writers revealing themselves as members of the "Maple Leaf School" : that is to say as blindly chauvinistic, blatantly sentimental. The novelists were following the pattern of Ralph Connor and his books XThe Sky Pilot in No Man's Land (the padre urging on the troops) or To Him that Hath (the resolution of the Winnipeg Stike through brotherly love). There appear to have been only two attempts at a political and objective analysis of the war and its afermath, in the works of two men who are still relatively kxxxxxx unknown and unpraised.I refer toCharles Harrison'snGeneralS Die in Bed and Douglas Durkin's The Magpie. Here for the first time in Canada war is seen not as glorious sacrifice, but as brutish and mad ; and the desire to build a new world for the returned soldiers and their families is a strong theme in The Magpie. But generally speaking the volumes/of prose and poetry in the twenties are replexte with political naivete Attitudes of rosy optimism, arrogant individualism combine with entrenched conservatism. It was not until the 1930's, when The entire xxxxxx social fabric of the nation collapsed at the onset of breadlines, evictions, ruthless police provocation and attacks on strikers, that what could be called political con-sciousness began to grow in the minds of Canadians--whether they were in trade unions, unorganized , unemployed, or in professions such as teachi ng law, social work, journalism. Thus, to understand what the events in Spain meant to Canadian writers and poets it is needful to examine the years between 1930 and 1935. A social worker, Margaret Gould, summed up the period in these words:When the poor in Canada try to help themselves by organizing into unions and striking for better conditions and pay, the militia is called out tO crush them, as in Stratford. When they organize for a decent standard of relief, tear bombs are thrown at them, as in Vancouver. Or they are ejected from the City Hall, as in Toronto. Or they are routed outof their homes and flung into prison, as in York County, Ontario.The disgrace of this situation was depressing not only forthose involved, but for the onlookers—some of whom were writers. One reaction was ironic despair: Another,quite the opposite: a determination to fight for change, a desire tobuild a new world where there would be justice and a good living for all.The momentof decision came dramatically when tkex in July, 1936, Spain's