Page 7 - Michael 2024 January

I was privileged to read a 96-page pamphlet that ex- printing house (Sept. 4, 1938) , and become a Full-time
plained Social Credit to me (J. Crate Larkin’s booklet, Pilgrim for the great Social Credit cause.”
From Debt to Prosperity). I was not looking for Social During the winter of 1935-36, all the employees at
Credit on that particular day. However, I was looking Garden City Press were made aware of Douglas’ doc-
for something that would put an end to the stupid fi- trine during the weekly courses on money and credit.
nancial crisis with which we were all struggling dur-
ing that time. In early January 1936, the Association of Char-
tered Accountants of the City of Quebec, at the sug-
“I had read many things that day, besides having gestion of Brother Ferdinand, a professor at the Aca-
worked at my regular job. I was a professor for the démie commerciale, asked Mr. Even to give a lecture
workers of our printing house, of which there were on Social Credit. Mr. Even had a choice audience that
more than 100 workers. Every week we held a study- evening. Among them, in the front row: Mr. J.-Ernest
session with the workers. We had chosen for that par- Grégoire, mayor of Quebec City and Member of the
ticular day a session on the question of money and Legislative Assembly of Quebec for Montmagny; his
credit. Therefore, we were looking for documentaries friend, Doctor Philippe Hamel, also a MLA and a great
on the subject. I had read many manuscripts, a few fighter against the trusts; their mutual friend, Doctor
small pamphlets and different books that had been Marcoux; the editor-in-chief of the newspaper
sent to us. In all of these documen- L’Action Catholique, Eugène
taries, I found that efforts l’Heureux, etc. There were
were made to improve the also several brothers from
situation. But there were the Académie and others
things that were ridiculous; from the public who were to
there were problems in all become active members of
of them. They were saying the movement in formation.
that one could come to the
help of the people but not That same year, Louis
without requiring something. Even submitted a project he
Not without the condition that had had in mind for a long time:
programs were put together, the publication of a periodical
or that a dictatorship was in- newsletter (monthly if possible),
stalled, or that socialism was es- which he would call Cahiers du
tablished in order to come to the Crédit Social (Social Credit book-
lets). The first issue of Cahiers du
help of the people. Crédit Social was dated October
“When I came upon Social 1936. Mr. Even was still working
Credit, I said: ‘This is fantastic!’ It hit me straight be- at Garden City press. He wrote the Cahiers in his
tween the eyes like a thunderbolt, and I made up my evenings and toured the country on weekends.
mind immediately that I had just discovered a “truth”
on my path. The other books all had shadows in their The Cahiers never exceeded 2,400 subscribers;
overall portrayal of the problems with the financial but a good proportion of the copies were sold through
system at that particular time. There were no grey the intermediary of propagandists who regularly took
areas in Social Credit’s overall picture of the exact 40 copies for a dollar for each issue, selling them at 5
problem with the financial system. A very great truth cents each. The Cahiers could not be published regu-
had fallen onto my path. larly every month. Enough copies had to be sold to
pay the printer at least part of the accumulated debt
“After reading a few pages on Social Credit, even before a new issue could be published. In three years,
before I completed the entire book, when I saw what from October 1936 to August 1939, a total of 16 issues
Social Credit was all about, I said to myself: ‘This is so appeared. v
wonderful that all people have to come to know what Louis Even
Social Credit is. It came upon my path; it has to be
put onto the path of all people.’ It is Providence who Finally, in September 1939, just as Canada entered
put Social Credit onto my path, and even though I was the war against Germany, the decision was made to
not very wealthy at that particular time in my life and I launch a periodical (in French), Vers Demain (literally,
did not know how to go about making this great truth Towards Tomorrow, for a better future) which has
known to everyone, I had the desire to do so. I was been published continuously ever since. In 1953, in
practically vowing that I would start to make this great order to reach the English-speaking world, Louis Even
truth known to everyone as soon as possible. I kept founded a magazine that he called Social Credit, and
working at my regular job, and I could only give time to later, The Union of Electors. Between 1968 and 1973,
the cause of Social Credit on weekends. Then one day, the periodical was titled Vers Demain like its French
thanks to the initiative and support of Mrs. Gilberte counterpart. In 1974, the title was changed to Michael.
Cote-Mercier, I was able to leave my regular job at the This periodical has also been published in Polish since
September, 1999, and in Spanish since April, 2003.

www.michaeljournal.org MICHAEL January/February 2024 7