The New
Pathway: The First Five Years – Part Two
To mark the
75th anniversary of Novyi shliakh/New Pathway we are republishing, in two
parts, an abridged version of a 1936 article in which the newspaper’s founding
editor, Michael Pohorecky, discusses the paper’s early days. In Part One,
published last week, Pohorecky outlined the political landscape of the
Ukrainian-Canadian community in the early 1930s. In Part Two, he offers insight
into the role various leading personalities and organizations played in
establishing the paper and the challenges it faced during the Depression.
Was the
Ukrainian War Veterans’ Association (Ukrainska striletska hromada or USH)
involved with the paper at the start?
No. As a member of
the USH, I heard that the organization was thinking of putting out a journal
dedicated to its own military and organizational matters. It was necessary. All
the same, it was the highest of times for Ukrainian nationalists, if they
desired to accomplish their work, to have their own newspaper that was tied in
no way, shape, or form with an old group. And on the eve of 1 November 1930 we
published [in Edmonton] the first issue of Novyi shliakh.
Who are we?
Two of us, myself and Ivan Solianych, the owner
of a Ukrainian print shop in
I had no money and no credit. So, my partner Solianych agreed to cover
all the costs. He did not believe that there would be any material gain from a
newspaper in which, as he stated, “the truth and only the truth had to be
written without concern for anyone or anything.” But, we believed that it would
bring a great moral benefit to the Ukrainian cause and, in particular, for the
Ukrainian community in Canada.
Did the
nationalistic-thinking Ukrainians in Canada come to your aid?
Only several dozen
people, exclusively in Alberta, came out openly in support. In the main they
were Ukrainian farmers, not “leading” people but folk with rudimentary
education and limited wealth who were nevertheless generous and willing to help
a good cause. Among them, Petro Khaba, a young farmer from Egremont, was the
most passionate. In Edmonton we had Stepan Vaskan, N. Shpachynsky, Mrs. A.
Hlynka, Mrs. K. Solianych, V. Lytavsky, and several other “old Canadians.” They
gathered subscriptions and urged us on to work further. Their moral support
strengthened our souls and gave us the energy to meet insurmountable obstacles
head-on, particularly financial ones.
How did the
USH, react to Novyi shliakh’s appearance?
At almost the same
time as Novyi shliakh’s debut, the first issue of the Striletski
visty, published by the Chief Executive of the USH in Winnipeg, came out. I
had hoped that the USH branches could assist the paper by attracting new
subscribers, gathering a press fund, and the like. Now that they had their own
organ, it was evident that these branches would maintain and develop it. The
Chief Executive of the USH was fairly sympathetic to Novyi shliakh, but
undertook no organized action to support it.
During the first few months the revenues were always less than the
actual cost of publishing. Other than us, and our staunchest supporters, nobody
believed that the paper would last even a year. Only the greatest risk-takers
took out full-year subscriptions and a few people went for half-year ones,
while normally we would get three-month subscriptions (at 50 cents).
We brought Volodymyr Hryvnak on board as the business manager and
administrator. He was an astute businessman and a phenomenal propagator. It took
business and marketing skills to hook a two-dollar subscription for Novyi
shliakh, which came out in a four-page format, when for almost the same
amount someone could get one of the two older Ukrainian weekly newspapers, each
of which had 12 pages per issue.
We must mention Petro Kuzyk. For a long time he worked in Solianych’s
press as printing assistant. At the newspaper he served as a pressman and later
as a compositor—almost without pay. Our entire staff, including the
administrator and the editor, received comparable rewards for their work. Those
of us with families had to find ways of employing ourselves so as to not allow
our families to die from cold and hunger in rich and sunny Alberta.
At the same time, the moral success of the publication grew. The
idealistic elements of Ukrainian society in Alberta, and later in all of
Canada, accepted Novyi shliakh as the interpreter of their national
desires. In our archive are letters, from all corners of Canada, written by the
toiled hands of Ukrainian farmers and workers and the delicate hands of the few
who are genuine inteligenty. In their day, these letters meant more to
us than hundreds of dollars. They demonstrated that our work was just, worthy
and purposeful.
The obvious, but underground, campaign against the newspaper by our
adversaries proved to be impotent.
The USH’s membership, most of all in Edmonton and other large cities,
threw itself into the campaign to promote the newspaper after a few months of
its existence even before any directive had been issued from the Chief
Executive. And, on 17 November 1931, the New Pathways Publishing Association
was formed. It had a provisional directorship consisting of Stefan Vaskan,
Vasyl Havrysh, A.H. Hlynka, and myself, which oversaw the operation until the
end of February 1932, when the Publishing Association was legally established.
Supporters bought shares in the association worth several thousands of dollars.
A single share cost ten dollars. The acting general manager of the newspaper
was a young student named Antin H. Hlynka, who had earlier helped out with the
paper and promoted it energetically in Edmonton and in the area.
Antin Shevchuk, a young inteligent-printer, would spend evenings
and nights helping with no demands while working for English printing
companies. Later, he resigned from all his paid jobs at “foreign” companies—in
spite of the fact that he had a family and was in an insecure financial
state—and took up the position of acting administrator. The Association’s legal
adviser became the well-known nationalist, Edmonton lawyer Nykyta Romaniuk.
In February 1932 the Chief Executive of the USH in Winnipeg ceased
publication of its monthly Striletski visty and took a page in Novyi
shliakh under the “Striletski visty” name, which carried material of
interest to USH members. And, the paper
expanded to eight pages.
Why did Novyi
shliakh move from Edmonton to Saskatoon?
Due to the material
difficulties experienced in Edmonton and the prospect of better conditions in
Saskatoon. The administrator of Novyi shliakh, Vasyl Hultai, and our
directors decided that we could no longer wear out Solianych and lead his shop
into bankruptcy, even if inadvertently. We would need the appropriate printing
equipment, typefaces, etc. Hultai and I went around the province to get either
shares or loans for the machinery we needed.
A young Ukrainian teacher and conscious nationalist, Kornylo Mahera,
who had a posting in the farming community of Redwater, came to our aid. Not
having cash-in-hand, he took out a loan from a friend and passed it on to us;
we bought an old linotype, the most essential of types, and other printing
items on an installment plan. We did not have enough to purchase a printing
press. We got Petro Kuzyk to be our compositor, while he worked for himself in
Solianych’s print shop. Renting out an inexpensive place, we set up the press,
editing office and administration and then forwarded the ready-set type for the
newspaper to Solianych’s for printing.
This went on for a year until the Edmonton branch of UNO and the local
USH branch, then under the leadership of the energetic nationalist Mykhailo
Pashchyn, came to our aid. For three months these organizations financed the
paper. They gathered monies for it, approaching a variety of establishments. It
was the heroic energetic persistence of these organizations that prevented the
fall of the only Ukrainian nationalist newspaper in Canada.
In the interim, we learned that in Saskatoon a print shop had come up
for sale. A campaign to raise monies for a down payment on the shop was
launched. Thanks to several organizations and individuals, notably in Saskatoon
(such as Petro Bozhok, engineer T.K. Pavlychenko, Volodymyr Kossar, Stepan
Babii, Lazar Kuleba, and others), we gathered enough money in shares and loans
to take over the print shop. And, on 8
June 1933 Novyi shliakh began to come out of Saskatoon.
How many people
make up Novyi shliakh’s staff?
The editorial staff stands in front of you: one
person. The administration and press personnel consist of the manager Ivan
Hulai; the administrator Vasyl Ruryk; the compositor, who works the linotype,
Ivan Bairak; and the page-setter and printer Nykander Bukovsky. When things get hectic Semen Velykach assists
the compositor, as does a young student, Bohdan Tsymbalisty.
You mentioned
that you wished to mark the fifth anniversary of Novyi shliakh by expanding to
12 pages. Why?
Our organizations are demanding more space in the newspaper. The
Ukrainian Women’s Organization of Canada (OUK) wishes to have a regular page to
cover its affairs, the same with the Young Ukrainian Nationalists and Ukrainian
Nationalist Student Organizations. We need a page for the children. And, we
still need a regular page for our farmers and more space for the discussion and
explanation of various important matters.
Since Novyi shliakh moved to Saskatoon, the number of
subscribers has tripled. I believe that when we increase the size of the
newspaper we will at least double it again. We were, are, and will be ready to
do everything in our power for the good of the Nation, because for us the
Nation is truly above all!
Source: “Piat lit,” Kalendar-Almanakh Novoho shliakhu na 1936 rik, pp.
151–168
Translation: Andrij Makuch
Andrij Makuch is Research Coordinator for the
Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) Ukrainian Canadian Programme