Single Tax, Socialism and the Independent Labour Party of Manitoba: The Political Ideas of F.J. Dixon and S.J. Farmer

The Independent Labour Party of Manitoba was established in November 1920, mainly through the efforts of two English immigrants, F.J. Dixon and S.J. Farmer. Dixon was the I.L.P.'s first provincial house leader and Farmer was an I.L.P. M.L.A. from 1922 to 1949, as well as being Mayor of Winnipeg in 1923 and 1924. In their early years in Winnipeg both of them were strong supporters of Henry George's single tax doctrine and militant anti-socialists. This article has two purposes: first, to analyze the political ideas of Dixon and Farmer, and, secondly, to explore the influence of their Georgeite world view on the outlook of the early I.LP.