THE CHALLENGE
OF AGRICULTURE

THE STORY OF THE
U. F. O.

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THE CHALLENGE OF AGRICULTURE

THE CHALLENGE
OF AGRICULTURE

THE STORY OF THE UNITED
FARMERS OF ONTARIO

EDITED BY

MELVILLE H. STAPLES

EDUCATIONAL SECRETARY OF THE U.F.O.

.• « •••• • ^.» « • • • »»•

TORONTO

GEORGE N. MORANG

1921

COPYRIGHT, CANADA. 1921

BY GEORGE N. MORANG

TORONTO

AM^>i:Ji:,j/:-.

.^^

^

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

Foreword 7

I. Early Farmer Organizations 13

II. Beginning of The U.F.0 38

III. The U.F. Co-operative Company. . . 69

IV. The Farmers' PubHshing Company. 97
V. The United Farm Women 115

VI. The Farmers in PoHtics 133

VII. Stock-Taking 156

List of Officers:

First Officers of the Dominion Grange.. 186

Officers of the United Farmers of On-
tario 186-191

Appendix 192

518752

FOREWORD

For almost three centuries after the discovery
of America that part of Canada lying west of
the Ottawa River was very little inhabited by
white men. Adventurers, traders, colonists,
and officials who came to seek a fortune, or a
home, or both in the New World, clung to the
banks of the Lower St. Lawrence or to the
Eastern seaboard.

But gradually the resources of the great
unsettled region became known, and colonists
pushed on into the forest. With infinite labour
and unfaltering courage they began to hew out
for themselves little plots of land. This move-
ment received a wonderful stimulus about the
year 1784, when the United Empire Loyalists
began flocking into Canada.

With the coming of the Loyalists, the rapid
development of Ontario may be said to have
begun. Whatever we may think of the
Loyalists' action, we must admire their courage
and their tenacity of purpose. "The sufferings
of these Loyalists during the long march to
Canada were terrible. With their wives and
children, and such household goods as could be

7

8 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

carried away, they followed the long trail,
homeless, friendless, hungry and weary.
Frequently they had to beg their bread or
accept food from the Indians."

Nor were their troubles over when they
reached Canada, for while "every man received
free of charge a grant of two hundred acres, with
a like estate reserved for each child the Loyalists
during early years lived very hard lives, and
frequently went to bed at night without knowing
where they would find the next day's food.
But they bore stout hearts and strong hands,
and they persevered, hoping on, and working
always."

While the loyalists were the earliest settlers
to come to Ontario in large numbers, they were
by no means the only pioneers. It is perhaps
not unfair to say that by far the greater part
of the heavy toil-some work of opening up the
country was done by those who came still
later, and without government assistance
pushed farther back into the bush. Thrown
entirely upon their own resources, almost
destitute of means, they braved the loneliness
of the "back- woods" and the peril of wild
beasts, to make a home where freedom might
dwell. Such were the men and women who
cleared the land and made it ours; theirs was
tlje hard lot, ours the reward.

FOREWORD 9

As we go up and down the land today we
pass by many cemeteries where He the remains
of these gallant pioneers. More often than not
their graves are overgrown with thorns and
thistles, the headstones awry, perfect symbols
of neglect. Are we not forgetting them and
their labors, and accepting our heritage too
lightly?

And worge still are we not forgetting the high
ideals for which they stood, and the hope that
led them, through privation and want, to turn
the wilderness into homes where their children
might live together amid peace and plenty?
Who can look about on the social and industrial
fabric of our Province today and say with truth
that their dream has been realized?

Still their children struggle on, some tilling
the soil, some otherwise employed. From time
to time well marked movements have broken
out amongst them, in which the old heroic
spirit has arisen in power. One of the most
recent of these has developed in the ranks of
agriculture. In that movement some men,
only a few, see a terrible danger; the majority
see a great hope. Whether that hope will be
realized, years alone can tell; but let no one
mistake a certain indecision of step for lack of
resolution. The pioneer spirit is abroad again;
the farmer has to find his way.

10 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

An attempt is made in these pages to trace
the origin and development of the United
Farmers of Ontario. The need for such a
book has long been felt, for not only are there
many outside the movement who totally mis-
understand it, but even within there are those
whose views are founded on very meagre infor-
mation.

In dealing with activities of the day it is
always difficult to present facts without some
indication of bias. Those who have undertaken
to present the history of the U.F.O. cannot hope
to have escaped this failing. Almost the only
written records to date are the minutes of the
various official meetings. Even these records
are brief, so that for much that is vital to the
story the memories of veteran leaders have had
to be drawn upon. For such information, and
for painstaking care in presenting it, the best
thanks of the editor and of all who read are due
to Mr. W. L. Smith, an untiring friend of the
farmer; Honorable E. C. Drury, Past-Master of
the Grange, first Secretary of the Canadian
Council of Agriculture, first President of the
U.F.O., and leader of the first Farmer — Labor
Government in Ontario; to Mr. W. C. Good,
first President of the United Farmers Co-opera-
tive Co., Ltd.; Col. J. Z. Frazer, President of the
Farmers' Publishing Co. ; Mrs. G. A. Brodie, first

FOREWORD 11

president of the U.F.W.O.; and to Mr. J. J.
Morrison, the man of all parts and of all places.
Each has provided the material for a chapter on
that phase of the subject which he knows best,
and his contribution comes in the order in which
his name appears. Many others who deserve
mention have given assistance but the pleasure
of unselfish service must be their reward.

As qualifications for his task, the editor can
claim a childhood and many years of manhood
spent on the farm, three years' experience as
president of a local farmers' club that had for
meeting place an obscure hall on a back con-
cession, and a sincere desire to have the ^ aims
and the history of the United Farmers placed
fairly before the public. For the form of the
book and for the final chapter he is entirely
responsible. To secure the material has meant
much investigation. If the contents prove as
interesting and instructive to those who read as
the research has to those responsible for prepara-
tion, the effort put forth has been well worth
while.

M. H. S.

Cavan, Sept. 2nd, 1921.

«• • • ;. •

THE CHALLENGE OF AGRICULTURE

CHAPTER I

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS

From time immemorial men have shown a
disposition to band themselves together in
groups. Sometimes the group has been a
family, sometimes a tribe, sometimes a nation,
or again the group has been a still larger unit.
Always nations have found their citizens united
in sections, formed on the basis of occupation
or of temperament. In more recent years such
sub-grouping has been especially marked, but
more or less it has persisted as far back as
historic record furnishes us accurate evidence.

Always when a group has become so marked
that it attracts special attention there has been
found some cause to which the observer can point
as the force which has drawn the members
together. Now it has been an expedition against
another people for the sake of plunder or revenge ;
again it has been a coming together for self-
preservation from an aggressive foe ; or still

13

l*\I;/?fiife^^T0Ry OF THE U.F.O.

again it has been a vision of a happier state for
mankind where each will be his fellows' equal
and where injustice will have vanished. No
matter what the end, men have instinctively
assumed that in union there is strength and that
success is attained in direct proportion to com-
bination and unity of purpose.

Because of their peculiar position in the
economic life of their country, some men have
seen the advantage of organizing earlier than
others. But once this organizing process
commenced, it was inevitable that it should
spread. Not only did it spread from old
countries to new countries, but once having
entered a new country it gradually worked
through all ranks. Canada like every other
country has experienced her share of such
development, and in no province to a greater
degree than in Ontario. Who of us has not
been rendered merry and angry in turn with
tales of the exploits of the Family Compact, or of
more recent compacts? Among the various
classes probably no people moved more slowly
in organization than the tillers of the soil, but
their time came, and such familiar terms as the
"Grange" and the "Patrons of Industry" remind
the younger people of today that agricultural
organization is no new thing in Ontario.

It has been assumed by most of those who

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 15

have written on the subject that the Grange
represented the first attempt by Ontario
farmers to found an organization for social and
educational purposes, and for the general ad-
vancement of agriculture. This generally ac-
cepted view is not wholly founded on fact.
The first movement of this kind was inaug-
urated a century and a quarter ago and re-
sulted in the formation of the first agricultural
societies which grew very rapidly in number.
When first organized, agricultural societies
covered a much wider field than they do today.
Fall fairs were merely a fraction of their ac-
tivities. They held fairly regular meetings
at which papers were read and discussed on
topics including improved farm practice and
general matters relating to agriculture. But
as time went on the fall fair became the
main feature of the societies and about the
year 1850 Farmers' Clubs began to appear to
take up the field which the Agricultural
Societies were abandoning.
V Up to this period however, the need of an
organization to voice the views of the farmers on
public questions had not become nearly so
pressing as it did later on. Until the third
quarter of the last century, agriculture was by
far the chief interest in the Province, and farmers
had due representation both in the Legislature

16 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

and in the Dominion Parliament. But with
the development of other interests and the relative
decline of agriculture the situation changed,
and farmers commenced to realize the need of an
organization through which they could express
their views on public matters.

The formation of the Grange was the result
of this general feeling. It originated in the
United States, and its introduction into Ontario
seven years later came by way of the United
States. The origin of the Grange across the
line was found in causes arising out of the
American Civil War. The war had created
bitter antagonisms, not only between the North
and South, but between factions in the two
sections. The main purpose that Mr. Kelly,*
the father of the American Grange, had in view
was to create an organization that would break
down these antagonisms and restore harmony
in a country tern by four years of civil strife.

In Ontario, the Grange was from the first a

♦Mr. Kelly was a clerk in the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the time he
organized the first American Grange. There were six other men associated with
him, all ofl&cers in the employ of the Government, and one Vineyardist of Wayne
County, N.Y. Two of the seven, schooled in Masonry, and one a prominent Odd-
fellow, framed the Grange ritual, a beautiful composition, rich in imagery. The
first meeting of the United States National Grange, held in 1867, consisted of
Worthy Master Saunders and Secretary Kelly, these two persons only. Before
his audience of one the Master delivered his address which was duly published
next day in the press. The first subordinate Grange was organized at Harrisburg,
Pa., and the first State Grange in Minnesota. It was not until 1873 that the
American Grange really began to make progress. In that year 8,668 subordinate
Granges were organized, and in the year following 11,941. With this there came
a rush from all quarters to join up, and in one case a Grange was organized in
Broadway, New York, with 45 members, representing a capital of as many millions,
and composed of prominent bankers, wholesalers, etc. At one time the Grange
held fraternal relations with English Co-operative Societies and a few Granges
were organized in England.

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS .17

means of uniting farmers for social and educa-
tional purposes, to enable them to make their
influence felt in public affairs, and also to
co-operate for mutual commercial advantage.
The need of a commercial department in a
farmers' organization was as urgent half a
century ago as at the present day. Long credit
and long prices were real evils at that period.
It was customary for store bills and blacksmith
bills to run for a year, and credit prices meant
extortionate prices. Not the least of the ser-
vices rendered by the Grange was an effective
campaign against this pernicious system.

It was on the second of June, 1874, at London,
that the first formal steps were taken towards
establishing the Grange in Ontario, and the
first annual meeting was held at Toronto in
September of the same year. When the
Grange first entered the field there were three
farmers' clubs in the township of St. Vincent in
Grey County, and they at once affiliated with the
new organization. The example set in St. Vincent
was apparently generally followed throughout
the Province. How completely the rural sec-
tions were, in a short time, dotted with subordin-
ate Granges is evidenced by the statement that
there were no less than sixty-four of them in
Grey County alone. The rapidity with which
the Grange made progress is shown by the

18 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

official statement that at the third annual meet-
ing the revenue of the Central body was reported
at nearly $7,000, a sum equal to $20,000 at the
present day. The growth in public esteem is
also evidenced by the fact that at the annual
meeting of 1883, Mr. A.Gifford being then master,
the sessions were held in the chamber of the old
Parliament Buildings on Front Street, the
Master occupying the speaker's chair. During
the same session the delegates were entertained
at the old Government House at the corner of
King and Simcoe streets, Hon. John Beverley
Robinson being then Lieut. -Governor. The
hospitality of the City of Toronto was also
extended, the members being carried in sleighs,
provided by order of the Mayor, to various points
of interest in the city. After a prolonged period
of prosperity decline set in, and at the annual
meeting of 1898 the receipts for the year were
reported as less than $180.

Various causes have been assigned for the
decline which occurred. Some of these causes
were given by the late Robt. Wilkie, then Secre-
tary, in a paper entitled ''Our Mistakes," read
at the annual meeting of 1898. 'The first
mistake," Mr. Wilkie said, "was made when the
Grange was booming." The large revenues
received in the early years were, he said,
recklessly spent in many unnecessary ways.

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 19

Had a percentage of the receipts been set
apart, and only the interest used, as had been
done in the United States, the Grange might,
Mr. Wilkie thought, have continued to prosper.
A second mistake noted by Mr. Wilkie was in
the action of the original promoters of the Grange,
who made the financial advantages a prominent
inducement for joining. *'It was," to quote his
own words, ''a mistake to refer to these at all.'*
By holding out extravagant promises, two
injurious results were incurred — many joined for
commercial gain alone, while in the minds of
other classes a fear was created that a farmers*
combine was about to be built up which would
work injury to established business. Thus,
from the start, there was active opposition from
without, and when those who had been attracted
by the idea of commercial gain did not realize all
they had hoped for, they fell away and became
a serious handicap.

A third mistake in Mr. Wilkie's opinion was
made in holding meetings in the evening. A
large proportion of the membership was made
up of elderly people, and these soon tired of
night meetings following a hard day in the
field. This suggests the observation that the
Grange failed to keep step with the rising
demand for more aggressive leadership. The
order does not seem to have retained the

20 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

young men in any appreciable numbers, and
without young blood enthusiasm waned.

Mistakes were made undoubtedly, but even
if the mistakes were far more serious than all
those mentioned by Mr. Wilkie, there would
still stand to the credit of the Grange a vast
amount of useful service. It represented the
first real effort to unite farmers for the protection
of their legitimate interests, at a time when
political partisanship and sectarian division
were much more pronounced than they are at
present. It brought together men of all faiths
and various political views, upon a common
meeting ground, where public questions were
discussed and good fellowship promoted.

Besides doing its share in developing a high
type of citizenship, it was the originator of the
cash system of trading in rural Ontario. While
undoubtedly the practice of the local merchant
and blacksmith allowing credit to his customers
did much to mitigate hardship in the days of
the early settlers, provided the merchant and
blacksmith were honest, unscrupulous men were
not slow to take advantage of the opportunity
it offered for charging extortionate prices, and
for eventually acquiring the customer's property.
In any case the customer had to pay for the
service. The custom had become so deep rooted
that both courage and perseverance were re-

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 21

quired to eradicate it. Its overthrow, therefore,
by the cash system was no mean achievement.

Many other measures showing progressive
insight stand to the credit of the Grange. One
of the first pubHc bodies in the Province to urge
that the Hydro Electric possibiHties of Ontario
be made a means of pubhc benefit rather than of
private profit was this association of farmers,
and their ideas in this regard were embodied in a
resolution at the annual meeting in 1906, and
forwarded to Premier Whitney. In the minutes
of the Grange we read that "the Premier con-
curred in the views expressed and promised due
consideration." In this instance at least the
matter did not end with consideration, but
materiaHzed in our vast Hydro-Electric develop-
ment.

Again, the Grange joined with other farmers'
associations in urging upon the Laurier Govern-
ment the advisability of appointing a Railway
Commission to regulate matters of transporta-
tion. In the same year a Railway Commission
was appointed. Of even greater importance
was their persistent advocacy of a system of
rural mail delivery, another accomplished fact.
So we might go on detailing endless activities,
but we must desist with this one further com-
ment from a recent writer, * 'About the only im-
portant matter of legislation urged by the

22 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

Grange to which effect has not yet been given is
the public ownership of long distance telephone
lines."

As noted on a previous page, however, the
Grange had failed to keep pace with the demand
for aggressive leadership, and thus we find a
rival body, the Patrons of the Industry, arising
in 1890, through which the popular feeling found
expression. The Patrons, while having commer-
cial features in their organization, were formed
mainly for political purposes, and it was this
aggressive political activity which caused thou-
sands to drop the Grange in favor of the new
organization.

The beginning of the Patron organization took
place at Sarnia in 1890. Ten counties were
represented at this preliminary meeting, and a
Provincial organization was formed with Fergus
Kennedy as the first President. The new move-
ment swept the Province like a prairie fire, and
soon enlisted the services of a corps of leaders
who have perhaps never been equalled in com-
bined power for stirring the farmers of Ontario
to action. Among these leaders were Caleb
Mallory, for many years President of the
organization, T. O. Currie, father of Harold
Currie of the U.F.O. , J. L. Haycock, after-
wards leader of the Patrons in the Legislature,
and J. Lockie Wilson.

p

W 1

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 23

The movement received a wonderful impetus
at a by-election for the Legislature, held in
North Bruce in 1894. In that by-election, in a
three-cornered contest, David McNaughton,
the Patron nominee, was triumphantly returned.
In the general Provincial election following, some
sixteen Patron members were elected to the
Legislative Assembly. The first set-back was
experienced in a by-election for Haldimand
made necessary by the unseating of Mr. Senn,
the Patron member for the Legislature, on a
technicality. The Patron was defeated
decisively on seeking re-election. This, however,
was offset through the election by acclamation
of the late David Rogers in Frontenac, in the
general election for the Commons which occurred
not long afterwards. The greatest set-back of
all was sustained when L. A. Welch, secretary
of the Patrons, in a published speech, denounced
the leaders for their alleged action in lining up
with the Liberals. Another disturbing element
was introduced in the Manitoba school issue,
but the main injury was worked by the Welch
defection, and when the general polling day
in the Dominion election of 1896 arrived, all the
Patron candidates for the Commons, with the
exception of Mr. Rogers (who had been elected
by acclamation) went down to defeat.

Still later, when the next Provincial election

24 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

came on, all the Patron members of the Legisla-
ture save one were beaten as well, and that
marked the practical end of the Patrons as an
organized force. But the seed sown remained,
and never since has partyism regained the hold
it had on the masses of the people before the
period when Patronism was in flower.

Some time after the Patron collapse another
effort was made in the line of farm organization.
This resulted in the formation of the Farmers'
Association which, although short-lived, per-
formed a most useful service during the period
of its existence. The Grange was then well nigh
dormant, and moreover such work as it con-
tinued was mainly along social, educational and
commercial lines. The Farmers* Association
was intended to be purely political but not
partisan. Its declaration of purpose was
simplicity itself:

"That, while deeming it inadvisable to estab-
lish a political party, we believe it is for the
welfare of the country that there should be an
organization ready to bring its influence to bear
to secure and promote the interests of the
farmer in matters of legislation and otherwise.*'

The meeting, at which this organization was
effected, was held in the Temple building in
Toronto while the Canadian National Exhibition

r

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 25

was on in the fall of 1902. The meeting followed
a long prior discussion by correspondence in
which J. J. Morrison, then on the home farm in
the township of Peel, took a prominent part.
One hundred and fifty were in attendance, and
there was a prolonged debate before organization
was finally effected. Jabel Robinson, one of the
delegates, strongly urged that those present
should unite with the Grange and give renewed
life to that organization. A. Gifford, of St.
Vincent, advised the acceptance of the platform
of the Patrons of Industry as the platform of
the new body. Eventually it was decided to
create a new organization with the name and
the simple platform set forth above.

At this first meeting the Association went
farther than the mere adoption of a general
statement of purpose. A number of specific
resolutions were approved. One of these called
for discontinuance forthwith of the practice of
"granting public money to private and corporate
interests in the form of bounties and bonuses."

At that time both the Dominion and Pro-
vincial Governments were granting bonuses to
new railway enterprises, and bounties to the iron
industry. Up to that period nearly $230,000,000
in cash and 54,000,000 acres of land had been
granted to railway promoters, and in one year
(1902) $7,915,000 had been given in bounties on

26 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

the output of iron industries. One of these
industries actually received, in one year, in
Federal and Provincial bounties, $75,000 in
excess of its entire wage bill in that same year.
Another resolution declared "That there should
be the strictest regulation of public transporta-
tion, and that a commission, with power to
fix rates, should be established without further
delay." A third resolution pledged the full
support of the Association in securing the
passage of the Cowan Drainage Bill, (the bill to
enable farmers to carry necessary drains across
railway lands), and the Lancaster Cattle Guard
Bill. In that year the Manufacturers' Associa-
tion was carrying on an active campaign for an
increase in the tariff, and ''The Association
emphatically protested against any such in-
crease."

Prompt steps were taken to give effect to the
resolutions passed. An invitation was extended
by it to the Canadian Manufacturers' Associ-
ation, the Toronto Board of Trade, the Grange,
the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association, and the
Toronto Cattle Dealers' Association, to send
delegates to a joint conference in the Temple
Building, for the purpose of considering the
advisability of pressing for the appointment of a
Dominion Railway Commission. The invita-
tions extended were all accepted. Delegates

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 27

attended from the several bodies named. All
agreed that a Commission should be appointed,
and a joint delegation was named to wait on the
Government at Ottawa and urge the same. The
delegation performed the duty assigned, and
within a year the Railway Commission was
brought into being.

IB No sooner had the Commission been appointed
than further steps were taken. The Farmers'
Association sent invitations to the Grange,
Fruit Growers, and Cattle Dealers, to join with

IHtit in preparing a statement of demands for
readjustment of freight rates at the first sitting
of the Commission in Toronto, and again unity
of action was secured. That there was urgent
need of such readjustment is made clear by the
fact that American grain was then being hauled
from Duluth to Portland, largely over Canadian
transportation lines, at lie. per 100 lbs., while at
the same time the Ontario rate from Midland
and other lake ports was 163^c., and the rate
on cattle from Chicago to the seaboard was less
than from Sarnia to the seaboard. Further-
more, rates within Canada were about 25%
higher than corresponding rates in the United
States. These and other facts were presented
before the Commission at the hearing in
Toronto, and the result was a readjustment in
charges, and an improvement in service that

28 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

meant dollars, in hundreds of thousands, every
year to Ontario shippers.

It was largely, too, as a result of the educa-
tional work carried on by the Farmers' Associ-
ation, that bounties to iron industries were
abolished, and that subsidies to railway pro-
moters became a thing of the past.

Despite all these other activities the Associa-
tion continued its agitation against the demand
for tariff increase as well. The Laurier Govern-
ment, faced by two opposing forces, manufac-
turers demanding an increase, and Ontario
farmers joining with their Western brethern
(although there was no Canadian Council of
Agriculture then) in opposing this demand,
resorted to the now familiar practice of appoint-
ing a Commission of Enquiry. No sooner had
this Commission been appointed than the
Farmers' Association made preparations for the
presentation before it of a case on behalf of
Ontario agriculture. In the meantime E. C.
Drury had become a member of the organization,
and when the Fielding Tariff Commission sat in
Toronto, in 1906, the farmers' side of the cause
was presented by James McEwing, then Pre-
sident of the Association, E. C. Drury and W. L.
Smith. The Toronto hearing was followed by
hearings at London, Guelph, Brantford, and
Peterboro, and at all these places the stand taken

W h^7

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 29

by the Association's delegates at Toronto was
endorsed. Support also came from importers, the
evidence of Sir James W. Woods, of the Gordon,
McKay Company in Toronto, and of the late G.
B. Ryan of Guelph, being particularly effective.
Before the Fielding Commission began its
rounds all available evidence pointed to a tariff
increase. But when revision occurred in 1907
the tariff was not increased.

The Association also maintained an active
educational campaign until the Lancaster Cattle
Guard Bill and the Cowan Drainage Bill were, in
effect, enacted into law. The former measure
made railway companies responsible for animals
killed on their tracks where negligence of owners
of the same could not be proved. The latter
compelled railways to bear that part of the cost
of farm drains across their property made
necessary by the railways' existence.

The creation of the Farmers' Association
rendered still another service. The Grange was
stirred into greater activity in regard to questions
of public policy, and soon there were two
organizations in the Province serving the same
purpose. It was then wisely decided that the
two should unite, and at a joint meeting, when
J. G. Lethbridge was Master of the Grange and
James McEwing President of the Farmers'
Association, amalgamation was arranged for.

30 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

As the Grange possessed a federal charter of
incorporation that name was adopted for the
joint body.

All this time, the farmers of the Western
Provinces had been watching the progress of
farm organization in Ontario. More than once,
some Western leader had been a guest at annual
meetings in Toronto, but it was not until E. A.
Partridge of Sintaluta, Saskatchewan, accom-
panied by D. W. McCuaig and Roderick
McKenzie of Manitoba, appeared at the annual
meeting of the Grange in 1909, and appealed for
united action, that a Dominion-wide organiza-
tion of farmers was thought of. Following his
appeal, a meeting was held in Prince Albert, Sask-
atchewan, in 1910, which beside being the annual
meeting of the Grain Growers' of Saskatchewan,
was also attended by delegates from Ontario,
Manitoba, and Alberta. At this meeting the
Canadian Council of Agriculture was formed with
D. W. McCuaig as President, and E. C. Drury
of Ontario as Secretary. A fund to maintain
the new body was raised by the contribution
of $100 from each Provincial Association.

Opportunity for action soon came. Before
the end of the year it was apparent that an end
long sought by Canadian statesmen was within
grasp. A movement in favour of reciprocity
with Canada had sprung up in the United States,

r

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 31

due to the demand of the great Eastern cities
for a more plentiful supply of food-stuffs. It
appeared that the advantages of reciprocal trade
on a basis favourable to Canada, which had been
sought by all great Canadian political leaders in
years past, and which every one recognized would
be of inestimable value to Canadian farmers,
might become an accomplished fact. In order
to take advantage of this situation, the Canadian
Council of Agriculture organized a great deputa-
tion to wait upon the then Liberal Government
at Ottawa, and present the views of the farmers
on this important matter. On the night of
December 14th, 1910, some 300 delegates, fresh
from attending the Annual Convention of the
Dominion Grange, which had been held in
Toronto on the two preceding days, took train
from the North Toronto Station for Ottawa,
where they were joined by similar delegations
from the West, and by less organized but not
less representative delegations from the Eastern
Provinces. A convention was held on Thurs-
day, December 15th, in the Grand Opera House
in Ottawa, where, after a full day's discussion,
certain resolutions embodying the attitude of the
organized farmers on several questions of
national importance were drawn up, chief
among these, of course, being those which
related to the question of reciprocity with the

32 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

United States. On December 16th a delegation,
one thousand strong, marched from the Opera
House in Ottawa to the Parliament Buildings,
where they were received in the House of
Commons chamber by Sir Wilfrid Laurier and
his cabinet, to present their views. This
demonstration, great in numbers and clear in
purpose, had a tremendous effect upon the
Government, and upon the country, and as a
result, the then Government sent two of its
members, Hon. Mr. Fielding and Hon. Mr,
Paterson, to Washington, to open negotiations
for a reciprocal trade arrangement with the
United States. To the great surprise of the
general public, and perhaps to the astonishment
of the Government itself, they came back with
something that seemed at first glance almost too
good to be true, — the thing that had been
sought by statesmen of all parties so diligently
during almost the whole period from Confedera-
tion,— reciprocity in natural products, with a
corresponding mutual reduction in tariff on only
a few manufactured articles.

It must be remembered in thinking of this
question, that up to that time the United
States had always demanded, in return for the
free entry of Canadian natural products into
the American markets, that the American
manufacturers should be allowed a similar free

r

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 33

entry into Canadian markets. This, under the
poHcy of protection to manufacturers, which
since 1878 had been a part of Canadian policy,
had been thought impossible, but in 1910 a new
condition, which has been mentioned before,
had arisen. The American cities were clamour-
ing for cheaper food-stuffs. A large part of the
American urban population was situated very
close to the Eastern Canadian border and was
looking upon Ontario as a possible means of
supplying their urgent food requirements. A
new situation had developed which made reci-
procity in natural products without free entrance
into Canada of manufactured articles a
thing possible of acceptance by the United
States, and so Hon. Mr. Fielding and Hon. Mr.
Paterson came back with an agreement which
had never before been possible of attainment,
and which all parties in the past had agreed was
to the great advantage of Canada.

The Canadian Parliament scarcely knew what
to do with it. Liberals and Conservatives seem-
ed united in its support, and for some weeks no
criticism was directed towards the new arrange-
ment. But the protected interests took alarm.
Possibly the assertion made publicly by some of
the leaders of the Farmers' Movement, who
claimed that this break in the tariff wall would
prove the entering edge of the wedge which

34 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

would overthrow ultimately the policy of pro-
tection in Canada, had something to do with it.
At any rate the protected interests decided to
oppose the Reciprocity Agreement. The writer
has a distinct recollection of riding some miles
on a train in Ontario in early February of 1911
with a prominent Conservative member of
parliament, and engaging him in a conversation,
in which the latter was asked what he thought of
the proposed reciprocity arrangement. He
replied, — "It is what we have sought for and
needed ever since Confederation." Five or six
weeks later the writer heard the same member
of . parliament denouncing, before a specially
called meeting, the same reciprocity pact, as an
agreement which would ruin Canada and sell her,
body and soul, to the United States. Thus is
seen the insincerity in the organized opposition
to this thing which had been sought by the
farmers, but which the protected interests
decided must be defeated, because it might
possibly prove encouraging to those who would
sweep away the stranglehold which these inter-
ests had upon the wealth of Canada. With the
course of that campaign the public of Canada
are familiar. The farm organization was com-
mitted to an issue; it had indeed been the force
which gave rise to that issue. They found that
issue beclouded, obscured by a mass of entirely

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 35

foreign questions which were dragged into the
controversy by two parties, one of which was
eager to hold office and the other to obtain it.
With an appeal to race and creed prejudice, to
international hatred, to a dozen conflicting
passions, the question at issue stood little chance
of obtaining a reasonably popular verdict. The
Liberal Government, supporting the reciprocity
arrangement, which had been forced upon them
by the farmers, went down to defeat, and with it
the farm organization received what appeared
to be an almost fatal blow.

An informal meeting of those who had been
prominent in the movement was called at the
Sun office about a week after the election. A
few attended, and of those attending, it was the
unanimous opinion that nothing further could
be done just then through organization to
better the condition of the Canadian farmer.
As one present rather caustically expressed it, —
"The farmers have been fools again. Let them
fry in their own grease for a while."

In January, 1912, the Grange held its annual
meeting in Victoria Hall, Toronto, but few
attended, and there was a noticeable lack of
enthusiasm. In fact it may be said that in that
year the Grange organization, which repre-
sented the only effort being made to provide the
farmers of Ontario with a voice in public affairs.

36 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

reached its lowest ebb. It is significant of this
state of discouragement and lethargy to note
that this annual meeting, which closed on
January 25th, 1912, was followed by no further
meeting until December 17th, 1913, an interval
of almost twenty-three months between annual
meetings.

The union of the Grange and Farmers'
Organization brought about in 1908, and from
which so much had been hoped, had failed, and
the old saying that "Farmers would not stick,"
had apparently again been demonstrated.

Perhaps, however, on examination, and with
this distance of time between ourselves and the
event, we may be able to see the causes which
contributed to this failure. In the first place
the old Grange, admirable as it was and still is,
as an organization, was antiquated and out of
touch with more modern thought. The fact
that it was a secret organization with a ritual, in
itself constituted objections in some quarters.
The further fact that the Grange organization
had once been very powerful, but had fallen upon
evil days, helped to lessen the public faith in it.
It was in fact, not abreast, in thought or in
repute, with the times which it sought, to serve.
The farmers had been seeking to fight a modern
battle with bows and arrows. The organization,
through which alone the general farming popula-

r

EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 37

tion of the country could be reached, had not
proved adequate. Left to form their own
opinions, and guided only by the prejudiced party
press of the country, it is no wonder that they
were stampeded into giving a verdict foreign to
their own interests. Had a strong and active
farm organization existed, through which the
education of the farm population on this great
matter of national policy could have been carried
on, the result might have been different. The
year 1911, while a disastrous one to the farmers*
organization in the Province of Ontario, yet
had in it something of benefit, in that it showed
the weaknesses which must be avoided in any
further efforts to educate effectively the farmers
of the Province along the lines of public policy.

CHAPTER II

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O.

In the fall of the year 1911, when, after having
been made an issue by the farmers' deputation
to Ottawa in 1910, Reciprocity was defeated as
the result of the befuddlement of the electorate,
all seemed lost from the standpoint of the farmers
ever being effectively organized, at least in the
Province of , Ontario. The two older move-
ments, the Grange and the Patrons of Industry,
though powerful in their time, had been of short
duration in any strength. The effort, made
through the Grange and Farmers' Associa-
tion in conjunction with the Western farmers'
organizations, while strong enough to force a
great political issue, had not been strong enough,
when that issue was put to the test, even to
hold its own membership, let alone to influence
the general electorate. The next annual meet-
ing of the Grange, held in January, 1912, had
been weak and despondent, so weak indeed that
almost twenty-three months were allowed to
pass before the next annual meeting was called,
in December, 1913. The farmers' cause in
Ontario was never at a lower ebb.

A few men, however, held to the faith, and

I^t ma

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 39

made up their minds that something could be
done, chiefly because they beHeved that some-
thing ought to be done. On a bright, cold
Saturday in the late fall of 1913, with a hint of
coming winter in the air, four farmers came to
Toronto to discuss the seemingly hopeless situa-
tion, and, if possible, to devise some means for its
betterment. These four farmers were, W. C.
Good, Col. J. Z. Eraser, J. J. Morrison and E. C.
Drury. They had expected to meet in the
office of The Weekly Sun, their one journalistic
friend, but being rural folk, accustomed to
work six days in the week, and a part of the
seventh, they had reckoned without knowledge
of the city man's habit of taking Saturday
afternoon off. They found the Sun office
closed and deserted. They were much dis-
appointed, it is true, for they had expected not
only a sheltering roof, but comfort and counsel
from their friend, the editor. They had, how-
ever, come long distances, at a considerable
sacrifice. They could not afford to go home
without something accomplished. They walked
from the deserted office of the Sun to the Kirby
House on Queen Street West, secured a room,
"and held their conference, going back to their
farms the same evening. The result of that
conference was, a few months later, the birth of
the United Farmers of Ontario.

40 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

The idea on which was based the plan for the
formation of the new organization, came from
J. J. Morrison, and, in order to understand it,
we must turn back some five years. In the year
1908, when the Grange, after its union with the
Farmers' Association, was showing some signs of
aggressiveness, the Ontario Department of
Agriculture began to organize Farmers' Clubs
over the Province. These Clubs were formed by
the Department to promote advanced methods
of agriculture, and received some aid, in the
way of being provided with speakers and regular
visits from the district representatives wherever
possible, but it is significant that in them all
political discussions were forbidden. Not a few
thought that these clubs were designed to stifle
the discussion of public questions by the
farmers, and to head off the Grange in the work
it was attempting to do in the formation of rural
public opinion. So strong indeed was this
belief that one agricultural journal in Ontario
(not the Sun) published a cartoon wherein the
then Minister of Agriculture was shown in the
act of knocking the Grange on the head with a
bludgeon labelled "Farmers' Club." These
clubs, thus organized, had not thriven as was
expected. They had no bond of union, no great
purpose, and interest in them was inclined to
flag. They had, however, a simple democratic

r

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 41

form which appealed to the people, and while
many of them (like David Harum's calf), had
''just gi'n out" from sheer lack of interest, a fair
number were alive and were centres of com-
munity interest. Morrison's idea was put
in few words: ''Let's steal the clubs," said he.
(This was Brother Morrison's first venture in
Bolshevism.)

Much letter writing followed this first informal
conference. Officers of the Farmers' Clubs,
Granges, Live Stock Associations, Co-operative
Fruit Associations and any others who, it was
thought, could be interested, were communicated
with. In general the response was satisfactory.
A few small preliminary meetings were held
during the winter of 1913-14, and finally a con-
ference was arranged to take place in the Labor
Temple on March 19th and 20th, 1914, at which
the question of creating a new Provincial
organization was to be dealt with.

This organization meeting was quite largely
attended, some 300 delegates crowding the room
which had been secured for the occasion. At
the beginning of the conference a considerable
divergence of opinion was manifest. Nearly
all agreed that an adequate provincial organiza-
tion ought to be formed, but there were many
who doubted the ability of the farmers to stick,
and who thought, in view of past experience,

42 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

that such a movement in Ontario would be
foredoomed to failure. Some encouragement
was found, however, in telegrams received from
the already successfully organized farmers of the
West. The tenor of these telegrams is seen in
one sent by the United Farmers of Alberta, and
signed by W. J. Tregillus of Calgary. This
read as follows: — ''The Provincial Board of
Directors, United Farmers of Alberta, in meet-
ing assembled, send greetings and wish farmers
of Ontario every success in their deliberations
and efforts to organize on Provincial lines, and
look forward to the day when the farmers of
Canada shall be organized for mutual benefit
from the Atlantic to the Pacific."

The chief speaker of the convention was
Roderick McKenzie of the Manitoba Grain
Growers' Association, who explained lucidly
and forcefully the birth, progress and aims of the
Grain Growers of the West. Those who had been
active in the various farmers' organizations
represented in the meeting followed Mr.
McKenzie. Gradually doubt changed to faith
and hope, and at the end of a two days' con-
ference, twin organizations came into being,
The United Farmers of Ontario, an organization
whose aim was to provide the farmers of Ontario
with means for self-education, not only in mat-
ters pertaining to the business of production, as

r

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 43

other societies had done, but also along broad
lines of citizenship, the study of public questions,
and the giving to the rural people a means of
making their opinions felt in these matters, and
the United Farmers' Co-Operative Company,
designed to aid the farmer in his business of
buying and selling.

The reader may wonder why this dual
organization was necessary, why it was neces-
sary that the United Farmers' Association and
the Company, closely allied as they were and are,
should have been two separate and distinct
organizations. The answer to this question is,
that although these two serve practically the
same people,, their aims and methods are so
different and indeed divergent, that if it were
attempted to combine them, nothing could be
effected but mutual hindrance. The United
Farmers of Ontario has for its sole aim the rais-
ing of the rural people to a higher plane of citizen-
ship. Recognizing the importance of the farmer
in the life of the nation, it aims to give him a
knowledge of public questions, and an influence
on national life commensurate with his import-
ance. Such an organization, educational in its
nature and sometimes, of necessity, becoming a
propagandist for those things in which it believes,
is obviously unfitted for the work of buying and
selling. On the other hand the Company is a

44 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

matter of commercial advantage. Its work is
to make possible better business for its members.
It must employ the most capable men available
for its work, it must enter into commercial
relations in many directions. To burden it
with educational or propagandist work would
destroy it. It is evident that if each of
these organizations is to function properly, it
must be kept separate and distinct from the
other.

The business company and its work is vastly
important. On its success in a great measure
depends the success of the farmers' work.
Better business means greater profit, better
farm homes, better rural schools, better chances
for farm children, and in a large measure the
ability of rural sections to hold their proper
proportion of the population. But in spite of
these undoubted facts, the opinion of the writer
is that a still greater work is and can be done
through the educational part of the organiza-
tion. It is vitally important, both for himself
and the nation, that the farmer should be pos-
sessed with high ideals of citizenship, founded on
knowledge and public spirit. Such is the work
which has been done with some effectiveness by
the United Farmers, so that at the end of seven
years' effort the farmers are probably better
informed on questions of public policy than any

" ^^^1

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 45

other class in the community. Such is the great-
est work that the future can hold.

The year following the organization meeting
was one of some discouragement, but on the
whole brought satisfactory results. The first
executive meeting of the new association was
held on April 13th, 1914, at the Carls-Rite
Hotel. Matters of general policy were considered
and a plan was outlined by which it was hoped
that the merits of the new undertaking would
be brought before the people. The treasury,
however, was almost bare, and had it not been
for generous aid given to the new movement by
the farmers' organizations of the West, who had
loaned to it the sum of $1,000 to be spent as
seemed wisest, and by Mr. S. A. Beck of
Cayuga, who gave a generous amount to aid
the organization, the outlook would have been
still more discouraging. As it was, during the
first two years, and indeed to the present time to
a very large degree, the success of the movement
depended upon voluntary and unselfish effort
on the part of those who believed in it. This
handful of men went here and there throughout
the Province, generally in the neighborhood of
their own homes, attending club meetings,
calling meetings for the purpose of organization,
and everywhere preaching the need and advan-
tages of a province- wide farmers' association.

46 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

In snow and storm, in discomfort and fatigue,
often paying their own expenses, these men
carried on their work, and the success of the
movement may justly be attributed to their
unselfish and, in many cases, almost unrecognized
efforts.

The year 1914, however, brought results.
The first annual convention was held on
February 25th, 1915, in a small room adjoining
the dining hall at the Carls-Rite Hotel,
Toronto. The president of the organization at
this first annual meeting was E. C. Drury, who
had been elected to the office at the organization
meeting in the previous March. The year
showed encouraging progress. Fourteen new
branch organizations had been formed; fifteen
old Government Farmers' Clubs had affiliated,
while three Granges and two other associations
had come in. Thus, the first year witnessed 44
local organizations with approximately 2,000
members joining up. The trading company up
to this time, it is true, had shown comparatively
little activity, but the spirit of success was in the
air, and among the one hundred and fifty dele-
gates who attended the first annual meeting and
listened to the interesting and thoughtful
programme there was a distinct spirit of optim-
ism. They went out from this meeting mission-
aries of the movement. The good work was

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 47

continued. At this first annual convention,
R. H. Halbert, who had demonstrated his
abihty and aggressiveness in the work of organ-
ization of Dufferin County, was elected president
of the United Farmers of Ontario, the first
president, E. C. Drury, having refused to allow
his name to go up for re-election on the ground
that he believed the organization would be
strengthened through pursuing a policy by which
the personnel of the important offices would be
subject to frequent changes.

At the second annual meeting, held in Febru-
ary, 1916, in the Labor Temple, still further
progress was reported. The Association now
numbered nearly 5,000 members, eighty-two
new clubs having been added since the last
convention, fifty of them newly organized, and
the remainder local Granges which had come in.
The trading company by this time had attained
some little measure of success, though in a
comparatively small way. The delegates to this
convention were even more optimistic than at
the first annual convention, and the discussions
showed an active and healthy interest in public
affairs. It is significant to note that at this
convention a resolution was passed asking for
prohibition of the liquor traffic, both Dominion
and Provincial. Thus, in its early days, the
farmers' organization pronounced unequivo-

48 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

cally on an important moral and political
question. Immediately following the second
annual meeting, a directors' meeting was held,
and further plans for extension were laid. As a
part of these plans, J.J. Morrison was appointed
an organizer, and, while the finances of the
association were not at that time strong enough
to pay anything like adequately for the work
undertaken, an allowance was made to remuner-
ate him in some manner for the time and energy
spent on this work. A committee was also
appointed to prepare literature and to hold
district conventions.

Up to this time there had been no formal
affiliation between the United Farmers of
Ontario and the Western organizations, though
the most cordial relations had been maintained.

At a second directors' meeting, held on
April 20th, 1916, the United Farmers formally
affiliated with the Canadian Council of Agricul-
ture. It is significant, too, that at this meeting,
the directors, having taken stock of the whole
movement, both as to the Company organized
for commercial purposes and as to the education-
al part of the movement, received the report of a
special committee which pointed out that too
much attention was being paid to the com-
mercial activities and not sufficient to education-
al and social interests.

r

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 49

In bringing in their recommendations they
divided their report into two sections, one deaHng
with the question of poHcy and the other out-
Hning a platform, the adoption of which they
beheved would serve to crystallize the thought of
their members. Their report was rather com-
prehensive, and, since it had such a marked
influence on the future of the movement, parts
of it will bear quotation here.

The clauses dealing with the question of
policy recommended: —

1. "That the association, in addition to the
annual convention, hold a series of district con-
ventions each year, the local arrangements for
which shall be left in the hands of local com-
mittees.

2. 'That a monthly or semi-monthly paper be
issued for distribution among all the locals as a
means of keeping them in close touch with the
whole movement. That pamphlets explaining
how to conduct meetings, and also explaining
measures advocated in the platform be prepared
and sold to the locals at cost.

3. 'That the association shall aim to finance

its own activities as far as possible

We do not approve of the suggestion that the
association should commercialize its activities
in any way.'*

50 - THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

The articles of the platform, as recommended,
were : —

1. ''The nationalization of railways if a
special committee that is to be appointed to
consider this matter should recommend in favor
of nationalization.

2. ''The initiative and referendum.

3. "A tax on unused waterpowers according
to their value.

4. "A provincial telephone system such as
exists in Manitoba.

5. "A tax on land values to meet the taxation
that will be necessitated by the War, so that the
high priced city land may be made to contribute
its share of the burden of taxation.

6. "That legislation be introduced suitable to
the establishment of co-operative associations."

Thus we see that early in the movement the
faith of those promoting it was pinned more to
the work of education of the rural community
than to the success of the affiliated Co-operative
Company. This proposed platform was sent out
for discussion to the clubs . throughout the
country and was passed on to the next conven-
tion for consideration. During the discussion
its form was considerably altered, but we find
in this initial declaration the germ of those
principles which have been embodied in the
farmers* platform as we now know it

p

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 51

The third annual convention was held in St.
James' Parish Hall, beginning on February 28th,
1917. The movement by this time had grown
immensely, numbering some two hundred clubs
and eight thousand members. Enthusiasm
marked the gathering. The discussions were
of a high order, and a spirit of determination to
make the movement succeed was manifest
everywhere. The reports of the delegates show-
ed that throughout the Province the local or-
ganizations were beginning to function in the
education of the rural public on questions of
national and provincial moment. The clubs
were undertaking with vigor that work which
they have so successfully prosecuted since then,
and the membership throughout the country was
taking a keen and intelligent interest in public
questions. Significant of this fact, as reflected
in the convention, was the appointment of a
legislative committee to keep track of legislation
proposed or needed, in the Dominion or the
Province, and to take such action as might be
found necessary. At a directors' meeting in
September of this year, 1917, the question of
establishing an official organ for the movement
was taken up. This question had been discussed
many times previously, but it had not been
thought that the organization was strong enough
to support a paper. At this meeting, however, a

52 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

committee was formed to investigate the possi-
bilities of such a paper. At another executive
meeting held on October 5th, 1917, a resolution
was passed protesting against the fixing of
prices of farm products as had been done in the
case of wheat and cheese and leaving the prices
of other commodities unregulated.

The fourth annual convention was opened in
December, 1917, again in St. James' Parish Hall,
and showed most satisfactory progress both as to
numbers and enthusiasm. The organization
now numbered three hundred and fifteen local
clubs and twelve thousand members. The
tone of the convention was quite equal to that
of the previous one, and, the quality of the dis-
cussions, if anything, was superior. The rural
people, through their organization, were ev-
idently taking an ever-increasing interest in public
affairs, which was shown by an amendment
added to the constitution providing that a
director should be appointed for every Dominion
electoral division in the Province. In this way
a much more representative body was provided
for, and the board of directors, though large and
in some senses unwieldy, became truly represen-
tative [of thought all over the Province.
Also a definite centre of activity was provided
in every electoral division.

Meanwhile, another force was in operation

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 53

which had a tremendous effect in demonstrating
to the farmers of the Province of Ontario their
great need of an adequate and powerful Pro-
vincial organization. In the Fall of 1917 a
Dominion election had been run upon the issue
of Conscription. Of the politics in this election
we need have nothing to say, but it is a fact that
the farmers of the Province had been definitely
assured by the representatives of the party which
won the election, that in the event of their elec-
tion and the carrying of the conscription issue,
the farms would not be denuded of necessary help.
Further, in March, 1918, the then Dominion
Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Crerar, had called
in Toronto, a meeting of representative farmers
of the Province of Ontario and had urged upon
them the absolute necessity of the greatest
possible production of food-stuffs during the
coming season. The • farmers had already re-
sponded to the utmost in production, and, though
it may be urged that in doing so they had been
partly influenced by the war prices of food-stuffs,
yet it is well to remember that unlike most
classes of producers, the price of their products
had been regulated so as to prevent their attain-
ing the high levels that without regulation they
would have undoubtedly reached, and that in
responding to the call for production they had
really put forth an heroic effort which involved in

54 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

many cases the farm women, already over-
worked, undertaking to help in the field work
of the farm. In fact, there were many cases
where health suffered because of this over-work.
Nevertheless, in response to Mr. Crerar's appeal
and the statement of the Government through
him, that the success of the war would probably
depend upon food production, in the Spring of
1918 plans for still greater production were laid.
The carrying out of these plans involved the
use of many thousands of farm boys whose
cases had been considered before the Con-
scription tribunals during the winter, and who
had been given exemption for this very purpose.
Then, in the midst of seeding operations, these
exemptions were cancelled.

It has been charged by the detractors of the
farmers' movement, that the strong agitation
which swept the Province because of the can-
cellation of these exemptions showed an un-
patriotic and selfish spirit on the part of the
farmers. Before this conclusion is accepted it
is well to remember several facts. The begin-
ning of the war had found the farms seriously
undermanned and still more seriously under-
womaned. For years, owing to the prevailing
economic system, farming had been less profit-
able than it should have been, with the result
that the trend of population had been strongly

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 55

toward the towns and cities. The year 1914,
when the war broke out, found scarcely more
than one man to one hundred acres of Ontario
farm land, a population not sufficient to handle
the necessary work with any degree of comfort.
With the progress of the War came the call for
volunteers, and the young men of the farms,
though they were needed at home, and their
going often involved the further burdening of
already overburdened shoulders, had enlisted
freely. It is true that the rural districts
never got full credit for this, for the reason that
many of these young men enlisted from nearby
towns, but the fact remains that the country
districts responded most generously. It is also
to be remembered that less than six months
before the exemptions were cancelled, in the
election campaign of 1917, the farmers had been
assured by the members of the Union Govern-
ment then seeking election, as has already been
pointed out, that farm help would not be con-
scripted, and that if any of these were taken
they would be honorably returned to the
farms. Further, only a few weeks had passed
since the Minister of Agriculture of this same
Government had urged upon the farmers that
the deciding factor of the war would be food
production, and that their duty was to push
production to the limit. With all these facts

56 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

in view, it is no wonder that the farmers
believed that a great mistake was being made
which it was their duty to set right. Of course
they were told that the serious reverses on the
Western front in the early spring of this year
were sufficient reason for the breaking of
solemn promises, as undoubtedly would have
been true had it been possible for the newly-
raised forces to be trained and transported
across the ocean in time to meet the sudden
emergency, or had they not been more urgently
needed elsewhere. The farmers, however,
realizing that it would take at the least several
months to train and transport these men, and
that the emergency would have passed, with
whatever result, before they could reach the
front, and seeing further, that very many acres
whose produce they had been told was urgently
needed to save the Allies from famine, would lie
fallow because the men necessary to work them
had been conscripted, — the farmers came to the
conclusion that a wrong and foolish policy was
being followed, and that it was their duty to
protest. The correctness of their conclusion
was shown by the event. Farm operations
were seriously disturbed and production con-
siderably curtailed, while comparatively few of
the young men whose exemptions were cancelled
ever reached the front.

r

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 57

Held in the grip of the national organization
for war, the farmers discovered their impotence
when it came to a matter of giving effective
expression to their opinion. They began to cast
about for some instrument through which they
might take action. The only instrument to
hand was the association of the United Farmers,
and to this they turned as the one organization
giving a lead to agriculture. Letters poured in
to Head Office from members and non-members
of the association, and the result was the journey
of a huge delegation of farmers to Ottawa to
wait upon the Government on May 14th. The
details of this visit will be found in a later chapter.
Just here it is sufficient to state that their
efforts availed nothing by way of securing a
modification of the order-in-council, that their
representations were practically ignored, and
that they returned home very much angered,
not so much because they had failed in their
mission, as because of the cool reception tendered
them by the Government and the abuse show-
ered upon them by the press. From that day
there was never any further doubt in the minds
of farmers as to the necessity of their having a
strong organization of their own. No matter
how much they might differ as to its method of
functioning, they agreed that it was necessary.

On the strength of this general feeling and to

58 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

consider further what immediate action farmers
should take, a special convention of the United
Farmers was called to meet in Toronto on June
7th. A room in the Labor Temple had been en-
gaged for the occasion, but before noon so many
delegates had assembled that the accommoda-
tion was altogether inadequate, and the after-
noon session was held in Massey Hall. This
large hall, accommodating nearly four thousand,
both afternoon and evening was packed to the
doors. Seldom has any chairman beeen con-
fronted with a more difficult task than that
which faced R. H. Halbert in his efforts to
maintain order and to expedite business.
Literally, hundreds of resolutions had been sent
in by clubs through their delegates, and these
delegates insisted on presenting their resolutions
to the meeting. Often more than a dozen
delegates were on their feet at once determined
to speak. Had it not been for the wit and the
commanding voice of the president little pro-
gress could have been made.

Printed on a large streamer hanging across the
front of the hall were the three words,
"Organization, Education, Co-operation."
Never before had the import of these three
words so come home to the mind and heart of
the farmer.- In spite of his apparent failure, he
found courage in the comradeship of his fellow

m^

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 59

agriculturists, and instinctively he laid firm
hold of the truth that in union there is strength.
From this convention almost every delegate went
home an apostle of organization, determined to
enlarge his club and to create new clubs.

But before we leave this convention, there are
several features to be noted that have since play-
ed a large part in the movement. First amongst
these was the presence of representatives from the
farmers of Quebec. Up until this time the same
feeling of separateness, which was found in the
political sphere between representatives of
Ontario and Quebec, had extended to the ranks
of agriculture. When the great delegation from
Ontario went to Ottawa in May and met there
a similar delegation fom Quebec, these farmers
made the mutual discovery that their interests
were wonderfully the same. More than one
delegate was heard to express the view that they
had been kept apart in the past through mis-
understanding, and for that misunderstanding
designing politicians were responsible. Whether
this view be correct or not, a new feeling of
brotherhood grew up and led to Mr. Monette
being invited to speak at this convention on
behalf of the farmers of Quebec. The happy
relations thus engendered have been continued
ever since, and it is the hope of farmer leaders in
both provinces that nothing may arise to disturb

60 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

the lead thus given to other classes in the
practice of harmonious action between these
two peoples.

Again, a great impetus was given to the
Farmers' Publishing Company. As noted
before, a committee had been appointed in the
previous autumn to investigate the possibilities
of establishing a paper. Patiently and carefully
this committee carried on its work and brought
in a report to the Board of Directors of the
U.F.O. As a result of that report the Farmers'
Publishing Company had been formed. The
new Company, acting energetically, had, in
April, purchased The Weekly Sun, an established
farm paper published in Toronto. From the
time that the company was formed, the directors
had worked unceasingly to sell capital stock,
which was offered at twenty-five dollars per
share, but in spite of the widespread desire for
a farmer's own paper, capital was slow in
accumulating. At this convention, however,
a new opportunity was presented.

Between enthusiasm for the cause, and re-
sentment at the daily press, because of the
biting accusations contained in its pages, the
farmer was willing to go almost any length to
secure for his cause a reliable mouthpiece. The
delegates, therefore, in response to an appeal for
subscriptions for the paper, and also for sub-

r

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 61

scriptions to the capital stock of the Publishing
Company ''came across'* most heartily, so that
from that day the farmers' paper has been on a
sound financial footing.

While the paper was receiving its share of
attention, another equally important move was
under consideration also. For several years it
had been evident that, to obtain the best results,
the women of the farm must be more closely
linked up with the movement. In almost no
other industry are women so dependent upon
the men of their homes for assistance and com-
pany, if they wish to go from their homes to
visit friends, or to attend meetings. Very
frequently therefore, they go together, especially
if their journey be to attend an entertainment or
a social evening. The farmer's club is essentially
a social and educational institution, and on that
score the presence and co-operation of women
was desirable. But more particularly, encour-
aged by the democratic ideals of the movement,
women were demanding and men were request-
ing that women share in the discharge of the
affairs of State, and become members of the
association. Equal responsibility presupposes
equal preparation and activity, and so steps were
taken to bring the women actively into the
U.F.O. Not many weeks after this convention,
a meeting of representative women of Ontario

62 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

was held in Toronto, at which was formed the
United Farm Women of Ontario, the distinctive
women's arm of the movement.

It was only natural that the delegates in their
discussions, at the special convention on June
7th, should pay a good deal of attention to
politics. Less than a month before, many of
them had been at Ottawa, and they were still
smarting under their rebuff, and under the
abusive criticism of the press. A great feeling of
disappointment in their elected representatives
was expressed on all sides. Somehow a great gulf
had arisen between the parliamentary repre-
sentatives and their farmer constituents, and a
demand was then and there voiced at this conven-
tion that at the earliest opportunity there should
be elected to Parliament a number of men from
the farm who would understand the farmers'
needs, and who would not refuse to listen to
their constituents, if they came to wait upon
them with some important petition or repre-
sentation. While no definite policy in regard
to political action was adopted, there seems
little doubt that a majority of the delegates
went home convinced that any effort to work
through the old parties was almost hopeless
and that the one alternative was independent
action.

During the summer months, organization went

r:

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 63

on apace, and before the annual convention, two
meetings of directors should be noted. On
September 4th, 1918, it is recorded in the minutes
that Mrs. Brodie, Mrs. Foote and Miss Gries-
bach, the provisional executive of the newly-
formed women's association, met with the men
and reviewed their activities and their prospects.
On the strength of their recommendations, the
treasurer was instructed to pay organization
'* expenses up to the limit of the resources."
Then on October 28th a joint meeting of the
boards of directors of all the branches of the
U.F.O. was called at Toronto. The association
was now growing so rapidly, and spreading out
into so many lines of activity, that the whole ques-
tion of reconstruction required careful consider-
ation. Amongst all the other features the one
that demanded most careful attention was the
attitude of the U.F.O. toward political action.
Up to this time the U.F.O. had taken no direct
hand in politics officially, but just previous to
this meeting the farmers of Manitoulin, where a
by-election was to be held shortly, had shown
that they were not disposed to wait for official
action, but had declared their intention of
putting an independent candidate in the field.
After full discussion the following motion was
passed: '^That we ^do not at present decide
upon forming a farmers' party, but that we

64 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

recommend the selection of farmers' candidates
in rural constituencies at by-elections, and that
the representatives from the U.F.O. to the
Canadian Council of Agriculture report back to
the board the attitude of that body toward this
subject." Not long after the ManitouHn farmer
candidate was elected.

The annual convention, commencing December
18th, 1918, is remembered chiefly because of two
resolutions passed, which had a vital bearing on
the policies of the Farmer-Labor Government
later on. While the secretary could report a
membership of twenty-five thousand, grouped in
more than a thousand clubs, the actual atten-
dance at the convention was small. This was on
account of the "Flu", that dread disease which
was then raging in the city and kept many away
through fear of contracting the malady and
carrying it home. At one time the idea of a con-
vention was abandoned, but eventually the
annual meeting was held, and amongst other
business transacted the two resolutions referred
to were adopted . They were as follows : ' 'That
there be a plank in the provincial platform of the
U.F.O. favoring local option in taxation," and,
'That this convention views with alarm the pro-
posed hydro-radial policy involving the expendi-
ture of millions of dollars on a railway intended in
many instances to duplicate existing railways,

r

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 65

and that the Legislature be requested to move
slowly in this matter." In these resolutions we
have the first expression of ideas, so far as the
U.F.O. is concerned, that have played an
important part in the activities of the Farmer-
Labor government.

Owing to the prevalence of the 'Tlu" in so
many parts of Ontario during the winter of
1918-19, club activities were seriously interfered
with, but in spite of that, the clubs increased in
numbers, and the business company extended its
operations also. Besides this, rather more atten-
tion than formerly was being paid to the stimulat-
ing of debates and the study of public questions.
The fruit of this work was seen in a series of
events culminating in the monster convention of
1919, the most enthusiastic gathering the farmers
have yet held. In the early autumn, the then
Provincial Government, under the leadership of
Sir William Hearst, decided to go to the country
for re-election. No sooner was this generally
understood, than the Province fairly bristled with
United Farmer candidates. For the whole story
of what took place, the reader must wait until he
reaches a later chapter, but just here we note that
when the results of the polling on October 20th
were made known, the farmer group was found
to be much the largest in the House. In due
time a Cabinet was formed, and on the evening

66 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

of Dec. 17th, the second evening of the annual
convention, a tremendous rally was arranged. On
the great platform sat Premier Drury surrounded
by his Cabinet and all the elected farmer mem-
bers, and behind them sat hundreds of women,
members of the U.F.W.O., while in the vast
auditorium every available space was occupied
by someone anxious to hear and see. Some
wag, epigramatically inclined, was heard to
remark during the evening somewhat caustically,
''the only be whiskered farmer in the Cabinet
isn't a farmer," (referring to Attorney-General
Raney) . Each member of the Cabinet spoke very
briefly, outlining some of the work he hoped to
accomplish during his term of office in his own
department. No more sympathetic and en-
thusiastic reception could have been tendered
anyone than that accorded to the new Premier
and his Cabinet on that evening. All
went home feeling that a new era had dawned on
agriculture and that once more farmers were
coming to their own.

The following year was remarkable chiefly for
the great number of new clubs added, and also
for the gratifying expansion in the co-operative
company. At the annual convention the secretary
could report more than fifteen hundred clubs,
with a total membership of approximately sixty
thousand men and women. In addition to this,

r

THE BEGINNING OF THE U.F.O. 67

there had been created as a direct result of
the activities of a few United Farm Women,
a special organization for bringing in the young
people between the ages of thirteen and twenty.
The year had been marked by some rather keen
controversies between the leaders of the Pro-
vincial Government and the leaders of the U.F.O.
Outside electors and the party press took this as a
sign of weakness and of disintegration. Such it
has not yet proved to be, and by most people it is
regarded as an indication of virility and inde-
pendent thought, most wholesome in representa-
tive government. Time alone can reveal the
outcome of this rather new feature introduced
into the operation of a political group.

But whatever form the movement may take
in the future, undoubtedly the executive were on
solid ground, when, shortly before the annual
convention, 1920, they created a special depart-
ment at Head Office whose function it is to
encourage the development of local talent in the
clubs by stimulating entertainments, debates,
and the study of questions of public policy, and
by furnishing reliable information on questions
of interest, when desired. The ideal of the U.F.O.
is a high and enlightened citizenship. To
realize that ideal requires careful and sincere
leading. By developing those features of the
organization which aim at breaking down

68 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

ignorance, isolation, and prejudice, the United
Farmers of Ontario can do much to fulfill the
mission which they have so splendidly begun.
Just how each wing of the organization contri-
butes to the general life of the movement, we
are now to examine in more detail.

CHAPTER III

THE U.K. CO-OPERATIVE COMPANY

Although The United Farmers Co-operative
Company, Limited, has been incorporated since
February 7th, 1914, a very hazy idea as to its
independent existence still exists in the minds
of many, and it is variously misnamed the
U.F.O., the U.F.O. Co-operative Company, and
so forth. From the beginning, however, it has
had a separate existence, quite apart in point of
law, from that of the U.F.O. In accordance
with plans already mentioned in Chapter II,
the U.F. Co-operative Company was incorpor-
ated with provisional directors in February,
1914. The original applicants for incorporation
were W. C. Good, Fred Luck, R. J. McCormick,
W. T. McCormick and John Bowers, all farmers
living in the County of Brant. George Keen,
Honorary Secretary of the Co-operative Union
of Canada, without charge looked after the
legal and clerical work, prepared the by-laws
and secured the charter.

The scope and purpose of the United Farmers
Co-operative Company is stated in the following
terms in the articles of incorporation :

70 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

(a) 'To produce, manufacture, import, ex-
port, buy, sell, deal in and deal with all cereals,
fruit, vegetable, animal or other products of
the farm, all products or by-products thereof
and all machinery, implements, goods, wares and
merchandise which may be used in the produc-
tion and manufacture of products of the farm
and all articles, substances and things which
may be utilized in the said production or in the
maintenance, cultivation, improvement and
development of farms, and (b) Without restrict-
ing the generality of the foregoing expressions,
to carry on the business of farming in all its
branches on the co-operative plan for the mutual
advantage, accommodation and convenience of
the members of the Company."

From this it will appear that the incorporators
were not without ambition, and followed
Emerson's injunction to "hitch your wagon to a
star." They felt, at all events, that the seed
which they were sowing was a good one, and
that, like the mustard seed of old, it might
sometime grow to vast proportions.

It was on March 20, 1914, in the Labor
Temple, Toronto, immediately after the
organization meeting of the U.F.O. that the
first shareholders' meeting of the United Farmers
Co-operative Company took place, at which a
permanent board of thirteen directors was

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 71

appointed. From among these directors W. C.
Good was elected President and Anson Groh,
Vice-President. J. J. Morrison was chosen
Secretary-Treasurer.

Up to this time no prospectus had been issued.
It became necessary now, however, to go out to
soHcit stock and, therefore, a prospectus had to
be prepared, signed by all the directors, and filed
with the Provincial Secretary. This was under-
taken at the next directors' meeting, held in the
Carls-Rite Hotel on April 13th. On this
occasion E. C. Drury, the first President of the
U.F.O., made application for and was allotted
one share of stock in the Co-operative Company,
and was then and there elected a director, one of
the provisional directors retiring. At the next
meeting, on April 25th, the prospectus was signed,
and interviews granted to several business men
who wished to link up with the organized
farmers. At the next meeting, on June 30th,
the directors inspected the Toronto Civic
Abattoir, then nearing completion, on the
invitation of the City Council. By this time a
number of applications for stock (mostly from
farmers' Clubs and subordinate Granges) had
been received, and stock was allotted in con-
formity therewith. It was also decided to
open an office in Toronto, and to seek an
opportunity of advertising the Co-operative

72 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

Company at the Canadian National Exhibition.

During the spring of 1914 the Secretary,
Mr. Morrison, had operated as best he could
from his home on the farm in Wellington
County, but on July 22nd he secured temporary
accommodation in the office of the Weekly Sun,
Toronto, where he stayed until September.

Meanwhile the Great War had broken out,
and the future looked very dark and uncertain.
Writing of this period in the Christmas number
of the "Canadian Countryman" for 1919, W. C.
Good, then President of the United Farmers
Co-operative Company, says, "In September a
room was rented at 100 Church Street — really
most dilapidated quarters with the plaster off
the wall and without heat. It was the only
thing within our means at that time, however,
and we were not ashamed of it, believing it more
honorable to wear a threadbare coat that we had
paid for, than broadcloth for which we could not
pay. This was the first office the joint organiza-
tion had, and for a time not even a stenographer
was possible. It being necessary for Mr.
Morrison to take the field in connection with
the organization work, Mr. C. E. Birkett was
engaged as chief and only office man, and render-
ed devoted service for several months, turning
his hand to anything that needed to be done —
typewriting, bookkeeping and correspondence.

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 73

fiiring the fall of 1914 it was difficult to keep up
courage and to keep the venture from collapsing.
The War had distracted everyone*s attention.
Farmers were busy and did not give the new
movement much support. And meanwhile we
had undertaken to open up an office and carry
on. Personal sacrifice on the part of those
responsible was the only thing that tided us
over that period. I remember once, in October,
leaving my roots and going to Toronto for three
or four days to help out, while Messrs. Morrison
and Birkett were almost living on bread and
water. But we hung on, and gradually the tide
turned in our favor. The next winter, I devoted
my time to the extension of the Company's
activities and to propaganda work. Others
were similarly active. And when winter came
on farmers had more time to consider the matter
and we managed to keep our heads above
water."

This was the period of seed sowing, when
progress was slow, and it was hard to keep up
courage. The business grew steadily if slowly,
however, while local organizations of farmers
in increasing numbers became shareholders.
There were as yet comparatively few individual
shareholders.

During the fall of 1914, the following circular

74 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

was gotten out and distributed widely through-
out the Province : —

To THE Farmers of Ontario

"You may perhaps know something of the
present state of happy prosperity in the little
kingdom of Denmark, the land where there are
few rich men and no poor; and where the
average of wealth and contentment is probably
higher than anywhere else in the world. Fifty
years ago Denmark had just come out of a
disastrous war with Germany, loaded with debt,
and oppressed with a heavy war indemnity.
Her soil was of the poorest, her climate not the
best, and yet, in spite of these handicaps, she has
achieved the present happy conditions. It has
all been brought about through the application
of one principle — Co-Operation.

"What co-operation has done for the farmers
of Denmark it can do for the farmers of Ontario,
and more. We have already begun a movement
to bring this about. We want your help to
complete it. We have formed the United
Farmers Co-operative Company to bring pro-
ducer and consumer closer together for their
mutual benefit. We have already established
many desirable connections. All we want is
the whole-hearted support of the Ontario
farmers. Will you help us to get it?

"Associated with the Company is the organiz-

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 75

alion known as the United Farmers of Ontario.
This is open to any Club, Grange or other local
organization of farmers. It is designed to
federate all the local farm organizations in the
Province of Ontario, and to educate along
co-operative and other lines, for co-operation is a
thing of education ; it does not grow in a day. It
is needless to say that the United Farmers of
Ontario is strictly non-partisan.

"We want your help in this great project. If
you are a member of a Grange or Farmers' Club,
see to it that your club affiliates with the
United Farmers of Ontario. If there is no such
organization in your neighborhood organize one.
For full particulars address the Secretary of the
United Farmers of Ontario, Mr. J. J. Morrison,
100 Church St., Toronto.

*'The movement needs your help. You need
the benefit of co-operation with your neighbors.
Let us all get together and accomplish this great
thing. We can do it. Get busy.

**The Officers and Directors of the United
Farmers of Ontario.

E. C. Drury, President."

The first annual meeting of shareholders of
the United Farmers Co-operative Company
was held at the Carls-Rite Hotel, with about
seventy-five present, on February 24th, 1915.
The Directors' Report, after reciting what had

76 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

been done during the first year's existence,
continues as follows: —

"We would direct your attention to the state-
ment attached to the Balance Sheet, in which is
seen the development of business in our Supply
Department during the four months October
1st, 1914, to February 1st, 1915. During this
period the volume of business has increased over
five-fold. The net revenue from commissions
has overtaken our current expenses, and we have
a substantial profit on our January turn-over.
The expense of doing business has decreased
from over three per cent, in October to less than
one per cent, in January, notwithstanding con-
siderable of our expense is chargeable to organiz-
ation work. And, when we include with this the
reductions in prices we have obtained under our
trade agreements, we have much reason to be
thankful."

The following excerpts are also of interest: —

" up to date we have not

been able to give sufficient attention to the

selling end of our business

the major part of the paid up capital stock has

gone for organization work

no commissions have been paid on any subscrip-
tions of stock up to date we have

thirty-three individual shareholders and fifty-
eight corporate shareholders "

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 77

The turnover for that part of 1914, during
which the United Farmers Co-operative Com-
pany was definitely in business was some
$33,000; but this was exceeded by the turnover
of January, 1915, alone. After this, however,
the business generally fell off until it reached
the low level of a little over $5,000 for
September. From that point it again began to
increase, totalling some $226,000 for the full
year 1915, on which a net profit of some $1,800
was made.

The President, Mr. W. C. Good, in his report
for 1914 dealt with some of the difficulties and
obstacles which the Company had to face and
overcome. There were, first, "The difficulty of
getting trained men for positions of responsi-
bility," second, ''The danger of sacrificing co-
operative principles, "thirdly, "The individualism
of the average farmer," fourthly, "The problem
of internal business organization," and lastly,
"The problems of local financing and ware-
housing." The concluding sentences of his
report may be quoted verbatim.

"It matters little what you and I get out of
this movement ; but it matters a great deal what
we put into it. We are here to-day and gone
to-morrow, but our work will remain, for good
or evil, so long as time shall last. Let us there-
fore, try to realize that we are engaged in a

78 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

great moral crusade, which has as its object
the establishment of justice in industry and
commerce. Thus directed, our efforts cannot
fail, because they are in accord with the Ultimate
and the Real. That this should be our attitude,
our outlook, and our confidence, in this our
first annual meeting, is my sincere desire and
earnest hope."

After this meeting the Vice-President, Mr. A.
Groh, was elected President and General Mana-
ger, and Mr. A. A. Powers, Vice-President, while
Messrs. Drury, Good and Gurney, together with
the President and Vice-President, were appointed
an Executive Committee. Six Directors' meet-
ings were held during the year, and a considerable
number of new Farmers' Clubs became share-
holders. The office was moved, also, in the fall,
to much more agreeable quarters at 110 Church
Street.

The Directors' Report for 1915 noted some
new developments, among which the following
are worthy of mention: The publication of a
monthly trade bulletin, with a weekly supple-
ment appearing in the Sun ; further study of the
marketing of live stock, fruit, butter, eggs, etc.,
and a closer connection with manufacturers.
Only 142 shares of stock had been sold, however,
so much was yet to be done in this direction, j

Mr. Groh's message as President may be

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 79

summed up in the concluding words of his re-
port: "Altogether, keep cool, hold steady, and
pull strong."

The annual shareholders' meeting, at which the
above reports were presented, was held in St.
James Parish Hall, Church Street, on February
2, 1916, and many varied aspects of the farmers'
commercial business were there discussed. A
motion was carried to separate the offices of
President and General Manager, in conformity
with which Mr. John Pritchard was elected
President by the Board on February 3rd, Mr.
Groh still retaining the position of General
Manager.

An interesting supplementary statement was
presented to the shareholders at the above men-
tioned meeting, showing the position of affairs on
February 1st, 1916, part of which is here
published.

The United Farmers Co-Operative
Company's Statement

Shares Sold 183

Amount paid on same $3,075.00

Amount unpaid on same 1,500.00

Representing $4,575.00

Shares unsold 217

Shares spoken for not signed up 22

Representing $5,425.00

80 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

Shares held by individuals 66

« « U.F.O. Branches 37

« " " Affiliated Farmers' Clubs 41

" " " Farmers' Clubs not affiliated 23

« « Affiliated Granges 12

" Granges not affiliated 4

u u

Number of U.F.O. branches 77

" " " not holding stock 40

Total number of Farmers' Clubs 264

" " affiliated 64

« " « « « not affiliated 200

Number of U.F.O. branches that are dormant 3

Number of Affiliated Farmers' Clubs that are dormant 9
Number of Affiliated Granges that are dormant ... 2

The lapsing of unincorporated local organiza-
tions, holding stock, mentioned in the statement
just quoted, created a strange situation. When
the United Farmers Co-operative Company
was first organized the question of stock holding
by unincorporated farmers* clubs was an em-
barrassing one, and the solution arrived at was
that each local association should appoint one
of its members or officers to act as trustee for it.
This solution was not wholly satisfactory, how-
ever, while the situation became greatly more
difficult in case the local association lapsed. To
whom could dividends be paid? Difficulties of
this sort probably had some influence in bringing
about a change of policy as to shareholding with-

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 81

in the next two years, which will be noted in due
course.

In April, 1916, the United Farmers Co-opera-
tive Company affiliated with the Canadian
Council of Agriculture, the directors personally
guaranteeing the affiliation fee; and again the
question of propaganda received earnest atten-
tion. About this time certain difficulties
developed in the office which finally led to the
resignation of the General Manager on July
10th. Mr. C. W. Gurney, one of the directors,
was appointed Manager pro tern. In the fall
Mr. L. H. Blatchford was appointed Assistant
Manager.

During the summ^ of 1916 the directors had
under consideration the changing of the system
of stock holding by clubs to that of stock
holding by individuals. Difficulties already
mentioned favored consideration of this matter.
It was also judged necessary to increase the
capital stock, and it was thought that more
stock could be got if it was subscribed by
individuals than if it was subscribed by local
organizations, particularly since the latter did
not often take more than one share. As yet
most of the stock holding was by clubs: witness
the fact that as late as January 17th, 1917,
allotment was made to fourteen clubs and eight
individuals.

82 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

The next shareholders' meeting was held on
March 1st, 1917, at which the number of
directors was reduced from thirteen to nine, and
steps were taken to increase the capitalization
from $10,000 to $250,000. A new system of
electing directors was tried out at this meeting,
with nominating and electing ballots and the
transferable vote. It was measurably success-
ful, but was subsequently modified by restoring
open nominations and the use of successive
ballots instead of the transferable vote.

The address of Mr. Pritchard, the President,
dealt largely with the general effects of the War
upon agriculture, called attention to the advis-
ability of departmentalizing the Company's
work, and stated that arrangements had been
already established with a firm at the Union
Stock Yards for the handling of live stock. For
the ensuing year Mr. B. C. Tucker was elected
President in Mr. Pritchard 's place.

Another prospectus had now" to be gotten out,
and in March this was taken in hand. At the
same time it was resolved to go after the
individual farmer as a shareholder, instead of
the Farmers' Club. The live stock end of the
business, not being satisfactory, also received a
good deal of attention, while negotiations, which
were to last for months, were begun with
T. J. Medland & Company, grocers. Arising

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 83

out of these negotiations the office was moved to
the Medland Building on King Street, where it
still continues. The first rental paid there was
only $25.00 per month.

The negotiations with T. J. Medland & Com-
pany contemplated the taking over of the Med-
land business on King Street, but finally fell
through on September 18th, so that nothing
further need here be said about it. It is worthy
of note, however, that on the same date R. W. E.
Burnaby, who subsequently figured so largely in
the Company^s affairs, applied for and was
allotted one share of stock. It is noteworthy,
too, that Mr. T. A. Crerar, who had been elected
an honorary director, was in attendance at a
number of directors' meetings for several years,
a fact that indicates the close relationship be-
tween the farmers' movement in Western Canada
and that in Ontario. From time to time, also,
most of the Western leaders have appeared and
spoken at the annual gatherings in the East.

In June, 1917, a communication which marked
the beginning of an important controversy was
received from the Brant Farmers' Co-operative
Society, in which, after reciting a resolution
passed by the Board of Directors of the latter
Society, it was urged "that co-operative societies
exist for the express purpose, in the interests of
the people, of eliminating competition, and the

84 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

inevitable waste of energy and resources occa-
sioned thereby. This Society has been organiz-
ed to provide a local service which the needs of
the farmers of the county demand ; a service it
is impossible to supply fully from a central point
sixty-five miles away. The fact of the existence
of such local service must create a demand con-
siderably in excess of what can be expected from
a provincial organization without local facilities.
If, therefore, the provincial and local societies
work in sympathy and co-operation, and in a
spirit of loyalty to each other, the trade accruing
to both must be much greater than would be
possible if such local organization did not exist.
"It is essential to the promotion of co-opera-
tive business in this county that the two
organizations should not compete with each
other in seeking to satisfy the requirements of
local farmers, for such a policy would, as co-
operative experience elsewhere teaches, impair
the efficiency, value and success of both, and
actually create trade conditions, that it is the
purpose of the movement to destroy. The
Board of this Society is of the opinion, therefore,
that in consideration of its desire to utilize the
facilities of your Company as a wholesale organi-
zation, there should be an understanding that
the United Farmers Co-operative Company
will not compete with this Society within its

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 85

sphere of business operations. It is further
felt that a provincial organization such as yours
should, as the local agricultural co-operative
movement develops in Ontario, function as a
wholesale for the local organizations, and for
which its central location and circumstances are
better adapted."

The matter of the above communication was
laid before the Board of the United Farmers
Co-operative Company and brought forth con-
siderable discussion. However, no decision was
reached in regard to the general question raised
on the relationship which should exist between
local co-operative societies and the Provincial
Company. It will be recalled that the original
purpose of the United Farmers Co-operative
Company was to serve the commercial interests
of the various local farmers' organizations affiliat-
ed in the U.F.O., and to consolidate and har-
monize their work. It will be recalled, too, that
at first most of the shareholders in the United
Farmers Co-operative Company were Farmers'
Clubs and similar local organizations, but that
gradually individuals replaced organizations as
shareholders. In fact, in the spring of 1917, a
general decision was reached, for reasons already
outlined, to go after the individual farmers
instead of the local organizations. There
emerges, therefore, at this point in the history

86 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

of the United Farmers Co-operative Company a
fairly distinct difference of opinion: — in the first
place the view which had prevailed during the
earlier years of the Company's existence, and
assumed in the communication from the Brant
Farmers Co-operative Society, and in the second
place that towards which the majority of the
Board of Directors of the United Farmers Co-
operative Company were at this point inclining,
but which had not been yet clearly decided upon
as a general policy. From time to time during
the balance of 1917 this problem received con-
sideration, but no definite decision was reached.
Meanwhile the stock was being taken up fairly
fast. Fifty-three shares were allotted on August
10th and one hundred and eighty shares on
November 23rd, when Mr. Burnaby, who had
been selling stock with success, was present at the
the Board meeting.

On October 5th, in this year Mr. C. W. Gurney
resigned as Manager and Mr. L. H. Blatchford
was promoted to take his place.

The next shareholders meeting took place on
December 21st in the same year, in accordance
with a decision to hold the U.F.O. convention in
December instead of later on in the winter.
About two hundred shareholders were present,
and, as the new prospectus was ready, an
enthusiastic campaign of stock selling, led by

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 87

Mr. Burnaby, took place at the meeting. Mr.
Burnaby was elected a Director at the same
meeting, and immediately afterwards President
of the Company.

As has been already mentioned the turn-
over for 1915 was approximately $226,000 with
a net profit of some $1,800. The turnover for
1916 was somewhat over $400,000, with profits
of about $4,000. Owing to the change of date
of the annual meeting, the statement for 1917
covers only the ten months ending October
31st, 1917, during which the turnover had grown
to over $900,000 with profits of some $3,600.

Early in 1918 reports from a cheese committee
and from a live stock committee are to be noted.
The latter of these received then, and continued
to receive, much attention, until finally, during
the next winter, a live stock branch was opened
at the Union Stock Yards, Toronto.

Attention was now directed towards securing
a "big man" for Manager, and in June Mr.
Blatchford resigned and Mr. L. M. Powell was
engaged. The selling of stock was proceeding
apace and the business growing fast. Early in
the following year Mr. Powell left the Com-
pany's employ and about a month later Mr. T.
P. Loblaw was engaged as Manager.

The year 1919 was marked by very rapid
expansion in many lines, and by a great increase

88 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

in the capital stock, the latter being now taken
almost exclusively by individuals. The turn-
over jumped from a million and three quarters in
1918 to eight and a half millions, most of which
was due to the newly established Live Stock
Department. Profits, too, were nearly $20,000,
but as over $21,000 of these were made in the
Live Stock Department alone the other depart-
ments together showed a slight loss.

During this year the business of the Company
was divided into three departments, Live Stock,
Commission and Co-operative Trading. Under
the latter of these departments a number of
branch stores or warehouses were established,
stock for which was subscribed by those in the
particular districts concerned. The lack of
local business facilities had always been a great
handicap ; a condition that was especially felt at
this time, when unusual effort was being made to
expand the Company's business. Two ways of
providing these local facilities were possible.
One was by linking up, and using, local co-opera-
tive societies then in existence, and encouraging
the formation of others like them; the second
was by establishing branches of the Central
Company, the stock being all subscribed (by
individuals) in the United Farmers Co-operative
Company, the latter establishing and operating
the branches. Mr. Loblaw, the new manager,

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 89

whose experience had been with chain stores,
preferred the latter plan, which was endorsed by
the Board of Directors and forthwith put into
effect.

Inasmuch as a number of the Branch Stores,
which were then being established, were located
in towns, the question arose next as to the admis-
sion of townspeople, a problem which was finally
solved by issuing "Participation Certificates" to
urban residents; which certificates conferred
the privilege of trading but not of voting.
Special by-laws, providing for this, were sub-
mitted and passed at the next shareholders' meet-
ing, held in Massey Hall, December 16th, 1919.

Meanwhile, in October, the U.F.O. had achiev-
ed unexpected and spectacular political success,
and two directors of the United Farmers Co-
operative Company (Messrs. Drury and
Doherty) were respectively Premier and Minister
of Agriculture for Ontario. The annual share-
holders' meeting for 1919 was, therefore, one of
peculiar interest and importance. The atten-
dance was greatly in excess of anything hitherto
attained, and enthusiasm ran high.

Criticism, however, was not wholly lacking.
Mr. W. C. Good, the first President of the
United Farmers Co-operative Company, and a
Director until the winter of 1917-1918, publicly
called in question the whole recent policy of the

90 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

Company In respect to the establishment,
financing and control of branch stores, the con-
trol of the central Company under conditions
then existing — that is, with a multitude of
individual shareholders, — and generally argued
for a return to the constitution as at first design-
ed. The natural evolution of the Farmers' club
on the commercial side was, he said, towards the
formation of local co-operative societies, with
subscribed capital, warehouse facilities, and a
paid staff. Such co-operative societies should,
therefore, he thought, form the units of the
United Farmers Co-operative Company, just as
various farmers' clubs constituted, financed, and
controlled the U.F.O. Such a return to the
original idea would, he said, solve two serious
problems. In the first place it would leave the
management of local retail activities in the hands
of local societies, which experience had shown to
be the only safe plan ; and in the second place it
would form a natural basis for representation by
delegates at shareholders' meetings. The num-
ber of shareholders was then over 10,000, and
it was manifestly impossible to hold a share-
holders' meeting at which a majority were pre-
sent. Some system of representation by dele-
gates had become imperative, and the adoption
of the policy of corporate instead of individual
shareholders provided the basis for such a

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 91

system. There were practical difficulties in the
way, but these, he thought, could be overcome if
the general line of action were adopted.

Time for fully discussing this matter was
lacking at the shareholders' meeting, so the
question was referred to the incoming Board of
Directors to report upon at the next annual
meeting. Mr. Good, also, was elected to the
Board, to give expression to his views upon the
matter under consideration. Two other changes
in the Board may be noted at this time. Mr.
Drury and Mr. Doherty, as members of the
Ontario Government, withdrew from nomi-
nation. Vice-President A. A. Powers, was
elected President for 1920.

During the year 1920 the business of the Unit-
ed Farmers Co-operative Company continued
to expand rapidly. The Montreal Live Stock
Branch was established early in the year, and in
the spring the Company purchased the Toronto
Creamery. An Egg and Poultry Department
was [also created under the management of
Mr. R. H. Ash ton, formerly manager of the
Dundas (County) Co-operative Association.
Attention was directed, also, to the seed business,
and later in the year a seed cleaning department
was established with H. W. LeMay in charge.
A grant of $200 was made to the United Dairy-
men Co-operative Limited which had been

92 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

recently incorporated as a result of the work of
the Cheese Committee. A fruit department
was also inaugurated under the supervision of
Messrs. Lick and Craise, two of the directors.
A subsidiary wholesale department was incor-
porated separately, under the name of "General
Wholesalers Limited," and the authorized capital
was again increased ;— from $250,000 to $1,000,-
000. A province-wide stock selling campaign
was put on in June, under the management of
Mr. Burnaby, and by the end of the year the
million dollars had been oversubscribed. A
mill was leased at Smiths Falls, and the branch
stores increased in number from ten to thirty.
The Live Stock business grew to about twelve
millions, while the total turnover for the year
was nearly twenty millions.

It is, perhaps, not to be wondered at that such
spectacular development should render the
Board of Directors indisposed to welcome
criticism and suggested changes of constitution.
At all events the representations made by Mr.
Good at the shareholders' meeting and sub-
sequently urged upon the Board, produced no
immediate results.

It was not all clear sailing, however. On
May 31st Mr. Loblaw resigned as manager,
which resignation took effect the middle of
July. For the rest of the year the President,

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 93

Mr. Powers, occupied the position of Acting
Manager during which negotiations for another
general manager went on. Finally Mr. H. B.
Clemes, who had had long and extensive ex-
perience with Gunn's Limited, was chosen, and
Mr. Clemes took charge after the annual
meeting.

Frequent changes of management were not
the only difficulties which the United Farmers
Co-operative Company had to face. There
was the perennial difficulty of finding and keep-
ing good men in the various departments.
Bookkeeping difficulties were also encountered,
not unnatural in a business whose growth had
been as rapid as was that of the United Farmers
Co-operative Company; and a special auditor
was appointed by the directors during the
summer of 1920. The work then begun has been
continued, so that at the time of writing it is
announced that the accounting is entirely up-to-
date and accurate. If the position thus gained
is maintained one great danger will be effectually
guarded against, and it is to be hoped that the
management will leave nothing undone to
maintain the present very satisfactory situation
in this respect.

Inasmuch as no decision had been reached by
the Board of Directors in regard to the change of
constitution recommended by Mr. Good, the

94 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

former considered at their meeting, in Septem-
ber, the propriety of submitting the whole matter
to the shareholders in advance of the annual
meeting, so that the question might receive more
widespread discussion on the part of Club
members. The majority of the Board, however,
resolved ''that no published report on this mat-
ter be handed out to the shareholders prior to
the annual meeting." This decision was arrived
at as the result of careful consideration given to
a lengthy memorandum, in which detailed
reasons were advanced in support of suggestions
for a change of constitution and general policy.
The matter was left in this shape until the share-
holders' meeting on December 14th, 1920, when
an amendment to the constitution was brought
forward by Mr. Burnaby, providing for such
reorganization of the Company as would
establish local groups of shareholders, each of
which would be represented by delegates at
general shareholders' meetings. Inasmuch as
the number of shareholders exceeded 20,000
by the end of 1920, the necessity for some such
change was patent. The general principle of
the contemplated change was readily accepted.
A question still to be faced, however, is that this
kind of reorganization does not necessarily pro-
vide any means whereby the many independent
local co-operative societies which are operating

THE U.F. CO-OPERATIVE CO. 95

in Ontario can be linked up with the United
Farmers Co-operative Company; nor does it
remove all the dangers of central management of
localized activities. In North America a large
company, centrally managed, seems to carry a
stronger appeal than does a federation of local
societies. Thus the majority of the share-
holders present, after some discussion, favored
Mr. Burnaby's motion, so that the task of
working out the details of reorganization in con-
formity with the principle of representation is
left with the 1921 Board of Directors of the
United Farmers Co-operative Company. Some
concrete scheme will doubtless be submitted to
the next shareholders' meeting as a result of this
decision.

Another interesting aspect of the history of the
commercial side of the farmers' movement in
Ontario may be dealt with briefly in conclusion,
From the outset, and increasingly as the organ-
ization grew in numbers , and prestige, the
Board of Directors was beseiged by people of all
kinds, advocating a multitude of ''good things"
— of a manufacturing or commercial character.
Agencies for handling all manner of commodities,
milling and elevator propositions, timber limits,
fence companies, and what not; all these were
attractively presented with recommendations to
**dip in," or "take hold". For the most part

96 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

the Directors have exercised most commendable
caution in deaHng with all these perplexing
matters, and have confined their attention
mainly to those activities which were un-
questionable— the marketing of the products
of the farm and the purchase of supplies. It
would be time enough to consider manufac-
turing and other enterprises when the Com-
pany had become firmly established on the
basis already chosen. Generally speaking,
therefore, all such questions have been turned
down or at least postponed.

Of recent activities little need be said. The
opening of branch stores is being held in check
until that department is further tested out.
Very necessary attention has been given to the
accounting, and efforts are being made to per-
fect the service in lines already in operation
rather than to start new ones. The present is a
most difficult time for all commercial under-
takings and one would not be surprised if during
the next few years, the United Farmers Co-
operative Company, in common with all busi-
ness, should pass through rather trying times.
Let us hope that it may finally take its place as a
permanently useful instrument in the hands of
Ontario farmers for the building up of the great
industry of Agriculture and for the making of a
better Canada.

CHAPTER IV

THE farmers' publishing COMPANY

The Farmers' Publishing Company, Hke the
other institutions of Ontario's organized agricul-
ture, was the outcome of long-ripening condi-
tions. For many years farmers had felt that
their interests were being inadequately treated
in the columns of the press. As has been men-
tioned in a previous chapter, almost from the
beginning of the U.F.O. there had been talk of
establishing an official paper, but year after
year went on during which committees were
appointed, without much visible progress being
made. Something was required to crystallize
into action the widespread yet hesitating in-
clinations of the farmers. The occasion which
precipitated such action was the pilgrimage of
Ontario farmers, to Ottawa, in May, 1918, to
protest against a violation of a solemn under-
taking by the government of the day, largely on
the strength of which it had been returned to
power.

The proceedings of that memorable day, and
the position taken generally by the organized
farmers, were so inadequately reported in the
7 97

98 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

press, and the views on public affairs of a most
important section of the nation were so generally
misrepresented, that a demand arose for a
farmers' own press to reflect their relation, not
only to their own, the fundamental industry of
the state, but to public questions generally.

The necessity for a newspaper to speak for the
United Farmers of Ontario had often been
canvassed, but nothing tangible could be accom-
plished until after the need for something of the
kind had been dramatically demonstrated at
Ottawa.

This necessity became so apparent to the
leaders of the movement after the Ottaw^a rebuff,
and was so widely discussed in the country, that
when further meetings of the general body were
called in Toronto, early in June, steps were
taken to bring the matter before those assembled.
The urgency of action was further made clear,
through a public threat from police headquarters
at Toronto that the farmers might be refused the
right to convene in the capital city of their
native province.

In Massey Hall, therefore, on June 9th, the
question of financing a U.F.O. newspaper was
brought before a large meeting, the sense of
which was strongly in favor of such an under-
taking being launched. There had not been
opportunity for a definite plan to be worked out ;

THE FARMERS' PUBLISHING CO. 99

ut subscriptions were invited from the floor for
twenty-five dollar shares. Promises amounting to
fifteen thousand dollars were forthcoming, and
the executive was instructed to take the neces-
sary steps to implement the meeting's desire.

A Board of Trustees of the funds was ap-
pointed, consisting of Messrs. J. J. Morrison,
G. A. Brodie of Newmarket, J. N. Kernighan
of Goderich, A. A. Powers of Orono, and Col.
J. Z. Frazer of Burford. Of this body Col.
Frazer was appointed chairman and Mr.
Morrison, Secretary-Treasurer.

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the
demand for a farmers' organ was the persistently
expressed aspiration for a daily newspaper.
Some of the most enthusiastic supporters of the
movement were sanguine enough to believe that
a million dollars could easily be raised to
finance the venture, and thus put it at once in a
position to compete against powerful organs
that had been circulating throughout the pro-
vince for more than three quarters of a century.

It will help the reader to understand this
persistent demand for a daily, if he bears in mind
that the War was the all-absorbing centre of
interest, and that the operation of the Military
Service Act had brought home to many a rural
community in a new way the sacrifices de-
manded by war. The farmer, who ordinarily

100 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

had respected the current dailies, and who had
placed much confidence in the promises of
governments, now found himself completely
disillusioned, and in his despair he grasped
eagerly at any proposition which offered relief
from his intolerable situation, by restoring a
source of information in which he could place
his trust.

The trustees, however, first considered the
much less ambitious possibility of acquiring an
existing weekly paper that had championed the
farmers' economic and political cause for about
twenty years.

The Weekly Sun had been founded by Dr.
Goldwin Smith, and, at his death, had passed
into the ownership of a body of gentlemen who
had willingly sacrificed certain of its prospects
of revenue to their adhesion to an anti-high
protectionist policy. The paper had many warm
friends among the organized farmers. It was
thought that possibly it might be utilized as a
base from which the ideal of a daily journal
could be attained.

The proprietors expressed themselves as will-
ing to dispose of their property; but after con-
siderable negotiations the trustees felt that they
could not meet the terms offered. Other pro-
posals were made to the Trustees, including the
offer of a second paper endeavoring to serve the

1^^™ fl 1 1

THE FARMERS' PUBLISKiNG* GO; iOf "'•

rural population, and a suggestion for joining
with another enterprise that was being promoted,
with headquarters in Stratford. But on ex-
amination these could not be entertained, and
the Trustees decided to test the feasibility of
founding a daily newspaper.

In accordance with their authority, and suffi-
cient of the promises made at the Massey Hall
meeting having been implemented by the pay-
ment of cash for shares, the Trustees on Septem-
ber 6th incorporated The Farmers' Publishing
Company, Limited, with an authorized capital
of $500,000, they themselves being constituted, in
agreement with the custom usual in such affairs,
the first directors. Mr. Kernighan was appoint-
ed managing director; and during the month of
September the situation was more carefully
prospected.

It was recognized that the general field was
already well occupied by experienced men, both
editorially and commercially; and that some-
thing off the usual line would have to be devised,
in order to give the world its first daily newspaper
devoted primarily to the advancement of farm-
ers and their families. One of the most ex-
perienced journalists in Canada was engaged to
report on the possibility of a body of farmers
issuing a newspaper of their own that would
compete with existing dailies.

ie^>:i>riiE^s?roiiY of the u.f.o.

In the course of a few weeks the report was
presented to the board of directors, and accepted
as a basis on which to proceed. It very strongly
recommended the founding of a daily paper, in
contrast with the original conception of a
weekly. Events, however, subsequently proved
it necessary to proceed with the scheme of a
weekly paper at first, but as a daily paper is still
the ultimate goal of the movement, it may be
well to state here the considerations which
encourage the farmers to hope for their own
daily at no very distant date.

There are approximately two hundred thou-
sand farmers in Ontario. A careful survey led
to the conclusion that more than half of them
were receiving at least one newspaper daily.
To the forty-six daily journals then published in
Ontario, therefore, the farmers were subscribers
for one hundred thousand copies. That was
equal to five daily papers of a circulation of
twenty thousand copies each. Newspapers in
cities of the third class, with a circulation of
from six to eight thousand, with their attendant
printing business, were known to be highly
flourishing.

All the daily newspapers, it was further point-
ed out, are written for the cities and towns, and
only incidentally for the rural sections of the
province. In any of them, all news of direct

r

THE FARMERS' PUBLISHING CO. 103

interest to the rural population could be given
in much less space than was being taken to
carry city news, and purely city advertising. It
would not be necessary to equal the size of the
city papers, seeing that at least one-third of the
contents of the city dailies most widely circulat-
ing in Ontario was really waste matter for rural
subscribers.

The rural mail delivery brought newspapers to
the farms at trifling expense, so that in the mat-
ter of distribution the farmers' paper would be
at once on a par with the greatest journals in the
province. On the business side it was apparent
that, as every farmer buys more goods than the
average city reader owing to his calling necessi-
tating continual purchases from manufacturers
and other large advertisers, the farmers' con-
stituency as a buying community was on a
higher level than the average community to
which existing journals appealed. A journal
written for a constituency of two hundred thou-
sand families not now furnished with a daily
paper devoted to their requirements, and con-
ducted with as much or more ability than was
applied to its competitors, it was felt, would
have every prospect of substantial success.

The great question, therefore, was one of
finance; and here also was the great difficulty.
It must be remembered that, up to this time,

104 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

the utmost the allied farmers of Ontario had
done in the way of collective financing was in
starting the United Farmers Co-operative Com-
pany. But its total raised capital was then
only twenty-five thousand dollars, and our
people had not attained the confidence in their
own commercial capacity which they have since
developed.

The directors, however, went resolutely to
work. Mr. Kernighan found he could not
devote to the Publishing Company all the time
required, and the management was taken over
by Mr. Powers. Representative men in each
constituency were invited to supervise the
obtaining of subscriptions for shares which were
fixed at twenty-five dollars each. Meetings were
held, at most of which excellent responses were
received to the call for funds. But the enter-
prise, as then entertained, i.e. a daily, proved to
be heavier than was anticipated. Some of the
wisest leaders of the movement also felt strongly
that it would, after all, be better to walk before
they tried to run, and to see whether The Weekly
Sun could be acquired. This feeling was the
more natural, in view of the Sun's long and
honorable service to the common cause. It
would be anomalous to compete against it.

The whole matter was submitted to the annual
convention in December, with the result that

r

I
I

THE FARMERS* PUBLISHING CO. 105

negotiations with the proprietors of the Sun
were resumed, and, in April of the new year that
estabHshed and faithful paper became the
property of the Farmers' Publishing Company.

At this point it seems appropriate to give a
brief sketch of the history of the paper which
under various names has continued to champion
the cause of the farmers ever since it was
founded.

The Weekly Sun owed its origin to the late
George Wrigley and the Patrons of Industry.
When the Patron Organization had attained
some proportions, the need of a medium through
which the leaders could reach the rank and file,
and by means of which the members could
communicate with one another was keenly felt,
and out of this need the Canada Farmers' Sun
was born, and became the official organ of the
Patrons.

At the beginning, the Canada Farmers' Sun
was published in London, but as Toronto was
nearer the centre of the province and became
the meeting place of the Central Organization, it
was soon found desirable to change the place of
publication to Toronto. Just at this period the
Patron Movement was at its height and the Sun
enjoyed a circulation of well over twenty
thousand. But with the rapid decline of the
Patrons, the circulation of their paper fell

106 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

rapidly, too, until in 1896 there were only some
four thousand subscribers.

That was the most discouraging stage ever
reached in the modern history of Ontario
Agriculture. An organization from which much
had been expected was no more ; the organ of the
Patrons barely continued to exist and its demise
appeared to be only a question of time. The
fiery enthusiasm of the previous period had given
place to a feeling of "What's the use?" Mutual
suspicions fostered by old line politicians, had
taken the place of mutual trust. It seemed as if
farm unity was to be a thing of the past and as if
farmers were to become and remain for all time
an unorganized, voiceless mass.

It was at this time that the ablest, one of the
most completely unselfish, one of the best
friends Ontario farmers ever had, came upon the
scene in the person of Goldwin Smith. ''Came
upon the scene" is, however, hardly the phrase
that fits the occasion. The sage of the Grange,
from the time of his arrival in Canada a quarter
of a century before, had been interested in the
agricultural life of his adopted Province. With
the passing years he became more and more
convinced that the hope of democracy in Ontario
lay along the concession lines. No one felt the
position in which the rural people found them-
selves in the late nineties more keenly than he

r

THE FARMERS' PUBLISHING CO. 107

did. None had a clearer apprehension of the
consequence that must follow upon a continua-
tion of that position, not only for agriculture,
but for Ontario as a whole. And Goldwin
Smith determined to do whatsoever he might to
prevent the existing condition from continuing
and even growing worse. With this object in
view he purchased the journal that had served
as a mouthpiece for organized agriculture. He
was absolutely free of any personal object or
personal ambition. He had outlived the animos-
ities arising out of controversies inseparable from
active participation in the public affairs of two
continents, and more particularly of three coun-
tries. Having already passed the Psalmist's
limit of three score and ten years he had neither
hope nor desire of public position or preferment
for himself. His position in the world of letters
was secure. His one desire, his one aim, was
to assure the continuance of a journal by means
of which the voice of rural Ontario might be
heard in the councils of the Province and the
Nation.

With the purchase of The Sun a company
under the name of The Sun Printing Company,
with Caleb A. Mallory as President, and W. D.
Gregory as Vice-President, was formed to manage
it. The name of the journal was changed at the
same time to The Weekly Sun. There were two

108 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

reasons for this change. The old name was a
cumbrous affair, and it was beHeved that with
Goldwin Smith as a regular contributor under the
pen name of '*A Bystander," the paper would
make an appeal to urban as well as to rural
Ontario. This latter belief, however, proved to
be not well founded. From the first the readers
of The Weekly Sun, as had been the case with
The Canada Farmers* Sun, were found almost
exclusively among farmers. Despite the dis-
couraging circumstances attendant upon the
re-birth of the farmers' paper, circumstances
arising out of the lassitude and discouragement
following the Patrons' collapse and the general
economic conditions at the end of a long period
of depression, The Weekly Sun grew steadily in
circulation and influence until its list of sub-
scribers numbered between ten and twelve
thousand.

Then arose two causes which resulted in a
severe set-back, the Boer War and the beginning
of an agitation which found its culmination in
Provincial Prohibition. Goldwin Smith was a
man of strong convictions and he never side-
stepped an issue. A man of absolutely clean
life, and temperate in all things, he conscientious-
ly believed that the use or non-use of intoxicating
liquor was a matter to be settled by the individ-
ual conscience rather than by legislation, and

r

THE FARMERS' PUBLISHING CO. 109

he preached what he beHeved. Since that
preaching was to a constituency which formed
the backbone of the temperance crusade of the
sixties and seventies, and of the Prohibition
crusade of a later date, the effect could not be
other than disastrous on the circulation of The

,^ Weekly Sun.

■■ The course taken in the ** Bystander" column,
which vigorously criticized the Boer War, was
also unfortunate, so far as the immediate effects
on circulation were concerned. But the ultimate
result, even from the narrow standpoint of
business success was beneficial. Men of
opposite view at the time came to respect a
man and a journal that had the moral courage
to stand up for convictions sincerely and honestly
held in the face of popular clamor. It is the
belief of many that the stand taken by Goldwin
Smith in the Boer War did more, in the end, to
establish public confidence in The Weekly Sun
than any other one thing in the history of the
paper, and proof of the soundness of that view is
found in the fact that in a few years lost circula-
tion was fully regained. But the victory won
entailed very heavy financial sacrifices. In
establishing The Weekly Sun in the first place,
and in carrying it through the period of trial
referred to, Goldwin Smith spent first and last
some thirty thousand dollars. That burden was

110 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

borne for one purpose alone: to secure for agri-
culture a journal of its own. Had it not been
for what Goldwin Smith did, the death of The
Sun must soon have followed upon the death
of the Patron organization. Only for the
financial sacrifices made, the seed sown by
the Grange, and later on nurtured by the
Patrons, might not have flowered into the mighty
Farmers' Organization of to-day. For what
he did, whatever views may be held as to his
stand on the question of Prohibition, the name
of Goldwin Smith will ever be held in grateful
remembrance by the farmers of Ontario.

It is no small satisfaction to know, too, that
the reward, the only reward looked for, came
before one of the greatest humanitarians of the
age passed from the scene. Ere the eyes of
Goldwin Smith closed for the last time, the
paper that he had saved was on a sound finan-
cial basis. The journal that he had nurtured
through adversity was in his thoughts to the
end. The last words heard from his lips were,
''Forward the Toronto Sun."

It was therefore a happy turn of events which
led the United Farmers to acquire the paper
which had so long been the friend of agriculture.
Under their direction, and with a new name, it
has continued to bring encouragement and
instruction to thousands of rural homes. The

c

THE FARMERS* PUBLISHING CO. Ill

phenomenal success of the Farmers' Movement
in Ontario is in no mean measure due to the
influence of The Farmers' Sun. Through its
columns, democratic principles have been per-
sistently advocated, and readers have been given
an insight into economic conditions as presented
from the rural viewpoint.

Through all this development a very curious
relationship has existed between the parent
organization and the owners of the paper. Who
are the owners and by what means do they exer-
cise the prerogative of ownership? As already
noted, the scheme was first mooted and further
promoted at meetings of the U.F.O. The
initial committee was appointed by the U.F.O.
But when the committee came to the point of
taking definite action and had to appeal for
funds there were two sources from which such
monies might come. Either the scheme could
be financed from the central treasury of the
U.F.O., or it could be financed separately by
individual men buying shares direct in a publish-
ing company. Since the central treasury pos-
sessed no more funds than were required for
organization and educational purposes, the com-
mittee was forced to appeal to individual mem-
bers, and thus the Farmers' Publishing Company
was formed, and shares were offered at twenty-
five dollars each. This, in a sense, leaves the

112 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

Publishing Company quite independent of the
U.F.O. , since each has its own president and
separate board of directors. The bond of
connection rests in the fact that the shareholders
of the company are in practically all cases mem-
bers of the U.F.O. The success of the one is
closely bound up with the success of the other,
so that a circumstance in which the policy of the
paper would run contrary to the policy of the
U.F.O. could hardly arise.

It must not be supposed that the Publishing
Company was formed and brought to its present
state of prosperity without encountering serious
obstacles and serious opposition. There is
every reason to believe that in addition to the
difficulties arising out of war conditions, design-
ing men put forth a good deal of effort to block
the effort. For instance although the applica-
tion for the charter of the Publishing Company
was made on the fifth of August, 1918, the
charter was not forthcoming until long after;
and repeated calls, which were often ignored,
had to be made before, finally, permission was
given. Then a further complication arose
through scarcity of newsprint. An organization
of newspaper men, alleged to have been fostered
and endorsed by the Government, set on foot a
scheme to prevent the promotion of further
newspapers in the field. Mr. Pringle, the paper

r

THE FARMERS' PUBLISHING CO. 113

controller, a man of broad and liberal mind,
however, made it plain at the outset of the
meeting of publishers held at Ottawa, that the
Farmers' Publication was not to be considered
a newspaper, and that on request from them

1^ they would receive their fair share of newsprint.

IB No account of the early activities of the
Farmers' Publishing Company would be com-
plete without some reference to a special edition
of the paper issued in January, 1919. It should
be borne in mind that not until the first of April

IB of that year was The Weekly Sun acquired, and
therefore no regular paper was published until
after that date. Following the annual conven-
tion of 1918 the directors of the publishing
Company thought it advisable to publish a
special edition in which would be recorded, not
only a full report of the convention, but also
many other interesting facts concerning the
movement. The material was compiled, the
character of the edition decided upon, and all
was proceeding merrily until the manager came
to register the name of the paper. Then, to his
surprise, he found that the name ''The United
Farmer" had been already copyrighted.
Further inquiry brought out the story that an
enterprising city editor, having heard of the
intentions of the farmers, conceived the idea of
copyrighting their title iri his own name, and

114 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

then selling the copyright to the organization at
a highly remunerative figure. In good time his
offer came to the Board of Directors, but as in
the words of the Scottish poet ''the best laid
plans o' mice and men gang aft aglee," the
stubborn directors simply ignored the offer and
adopted the less expensive plan of choosing a
different name.

Through such experiences, amusing and
annoying, the Sun has continued to grow.
When taken over, slightly more than two years
ago, the circulation stood at twelve thousand;
to-day it reaches more than forty thousand
homes and is increasing its field daily. Not only
is it growing in circulation but in subject matter
it is continually adding to its store. What its
future is to be rests largely with the farmers
themselves. It is theirs to watch, to read, and
to counsel. Under wise and broad minded
management, it is destined to wield a mighty
influence on the current of public events in
Canada.

CHAPTER V

THE UNITED FARM WOMEN

In the autumn of 1918 there went out to a
number of representative farm women from the
head office of the U.F.O. a communication
inviting an answer to the following question,
'What in your opinion will be the greatest
benefit of the U.F.W.O. to the farm women of
Ontario?". From the many answers received
the following are selected as typical, — "It will
broaden and deepen their interests and help them
to think for themselves," "It will give oppor-
tunity to develop individuality and natural
gifts," "It will educate them along the line of
what they ought to want and how to get it,"
and "It will bring farm women together in
pleasant and profitable relationship." Such
was the vision which inspired the women who
became leaders in the movement. How far the
vision has been realized we are now to inquire.

The history of the United Farm Women of
Ontario is still very short. Three years only
have passed since the inaugural meeting, years
during which reaction from the stress of war
activity has been most marked, and yet in

115

116 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

spite of uncertainty and discouraging conditions
steady progress has been made. From the small
nucleus of a dozen interested individual women
the U.F.W.O. has now grown to one hundred and
seventy-five clubs with a total membership of
more than six thousand.

The project was first undertaken in the spring
of 1918, although for a long time such a step had
been contemplated. Almost from the beginning
of the U.F.O. Mr. Morrison had been receiving
letters inquiring if the farm women were not to
be included in the organization as well as the
men. As time went on the necessity of action
became increasingly evident. During the pro-
gress of the War, women had been assuming an
ever larger share of direct responsibility in
matters of State. The prospect of the Provincial
franchise for women, with the promise of similar
legislation at Ottawa, made it abundantly clear
to all that the woman electorate would soon be a
force to be reckoned with at the polls.

But it was not chiefly political reasons which
induced one or two members of the U.F.O.
executive to consider the advisability of inviting
the active co-operation of the farm women.
Probably in no occupation in the world is the
association of men and women closer than on the
farm. In the conduct of the household, the
woman oversees, and in most cases, actually per-

THE UNITED FARM WOMEN 117

forms all those various duties vital to a self con-
tained home. Out of doors she takes a share of
the responsibility also. Here her interests merge
with those of the men, while in the isolation of
the farm, for companionship the man and the
woman constantly look to one another. Inside
and outside the work is complementary, each in
its own way essential to the success of the other.

Just so in the life of the clubs, each required
its due share of consideration. The men had
organized for the avowed purpose of improving
the condition of agriculture. No part of agri-
culture was in more serious need of attention
than the farm home, and no one saw more
clearly how the home might be improved than
the farm woman herself. To make her ideas
articulate she must have a medium for discussion
and expression, and since the medium already
existed in the club, all that was necessary was to
secure her attendance.

Furthermore, all community effort had shown
that where women were taking an active part the
men showed a much more lively interest. One of
the great problems confronting club officers
everywhere was to induce the men to come out
to meetings. It was not so much that they were
not interested as, that after a hard day's work,
it was a real privation to leave a cosy fire and
family at home, and go off alone to an uncomfort-

118 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

able schoolhouse or hall for a meeting that was
anything but attractive. Had it not been for
their keen sense of the handicap from which
agriculture suffered, and their conviction that
something must be done, one wonders if they
could have persisted so long. Enthusiasm for
the cause maintained them, but enthusiasm
under adverse conditions sooner or later wanes,
and in the active participation of farm women
leaders saw hope of renewing and strengthening
the movement. Thus it came about that steps
were taken to give woman her rightful place in
the farmers' crusade.

In the early summer of 1918, Mrs. Violet
McNaughton, a pioneer leader in the women's
organizations of Saskatchewan, was to represent
her Province at a convention of the National
Council of Women in Brantford. Mr. Morrison
made use of the occasion of her passing through
Toronto to gather together such farm women as
he knew to be interested in the matter of organiz-
ation, to confer with her. On the seventeenth
of June, sixteen women and three men met in the
parlor of the Elm Street Y.W.C.A. and listened
to Mrs. McNaughton as she outlined the work
done by the Women Grain Growers' Organiza-
tions of the West and pointed out those principles
which they from experience had found to make
for success.

w.

THE UNITED FARM WOMEN 119

The sixteen women entered the room in the
"Y" as sixteen unorganized individuals; they
left it an embryo association. Not only were
they inspired by the message to appoint officers,
but they drew up a provisional charter also.
With Mrs. G. A. Brodie of Newmarket as
Provisional President, and Miss Emma Griesbach
of Collingwood as Secretary, those present were
constituted a standing committee, and went
forth determined by all means at their command
to arouse interest and to spread information as
to the aim and purpose of organizing, which in
general terms might be stated as the strengthen-
ing of the U.F.O. The U.F.W.O. was now
''off to a start."

But these devoted women had undertaken a
large order. While they had the constant and
sympathetic encouragement of Mr. Morrison,
the U.F.O. as a whole was not yet seized of their
importance, and consequently the support of
the men was still largely passive. Interest had
to be awakened. Perhaps one of the most seri-
ous handicaps under which the women labored
was lack of experience. In the palmy days of
the Grange, women had been admitted to
membership in that institution, and even one or
two subordinate offices were allocated to women.
Miss Hattie Robinson is known and remember-
ed by many of the passing generation for her

120 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

splendid work as Secretary of the Grange, a
position which she still retains. But since that
time there had been no independent farmers'
organization with a woman's auxiliary, and if
there were any of the old workers still available,
they were not known to officers of the U.F.O.
Undaunted however by lack of experience,
the provisional executive went to work, and
although visible results were slow in making
an appearance a great deal of missionary work
was done.

Encouragement was not lacking. In some
localities the time was ripe for organization.
One of the first to urge upon Mr. Morrison the
advisability of forming a woman's section was
Mrs. Henry Wilson of Georgetown. Mrs.
Wilson was one of the sixteen women who met
Mrs. McNaughton, and no sooner had she
returned than she invited her neighbors to her
home. Twenty-three ladies attended, and there
and then on the eleventh of July was formed the
Ashgrove U.F.W.O., the first club of its kind in
the Province.

An amusing incident happened in connection
with the third meeting of this club which was
held in the Orange Hall at Milton. Shortly after
the business of the evening began, a number of
people from the town appeared outside the build-
ing and expressed a desire to come in to the

THE UNITED FARM WOMEN 121

meeting. The President and Secretary, with an
open copy of the constitution in hand, met them
at the door, and read them the section stating
that only those directly interested in agriculture
were eligible for membership in the U.F.O.
The suspicions, attendant on war, were then
rife, and the intruders returned to town spread-
ing the information that the farmers were hold-
ing meetings behind closed doors and were
guilty of seditious utterances.

Realizing that the best headway could be
made only by securing the enthusiastic co-opera-
tion of the men, the women laid careful plans for
storming the U.F.O. annual convention. Pre-
liminary to appearing in session with the men,
they held a session of their own in a room loaned
by the University of Toronto. At this, their
first general meeting, there were thirty women
present, but only sixteen came as accredited
delegates, while only three U.F.W.O. clubs had
yet been formed in affiliation with Head Office.
Several helpful papers were contributed pro-
voking earnest discussion, and as a result the
U.F.W.O., after adopting the men's platform in
full, decided upon drafting a supplementary
platform of their own, the main tenets of which
should be noted as follows:

1. Improvement of rural homes and
schools.

122 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

2. Removal of disabilities of rural women in
qualifying for school trustees.

3. Special attention to our system of educa-
tion.

4. Appointment of county police matrons.

5. Labor-saving devices for the home on the
free list.

This being accomplished and the provisional
officers having been elected as permanent officers
for the ensuing year, the women repaired to
Convocation Hall where the men were
assembled.

There, so far as that first annual convention
was concerned, probably the best work for the
U.F.W.O. was accomplished. Their standing
with the U.F.O. must be secured. At the even-
ing session, December 18th, 1918, the twenty-
five women occupied seats on the platform fac-
ing the fifteen hundred men delegates, and, in the
words of the secretary, "No warmer reception,
no more enthusiastic response could woman
desire than that accorded by the U.F.O. to the
U.F.W.O. that night. It became clear on that
occasion that the men and women of rural
Ontario were engaged to secure the removal of
oppressive burdens from agriculture, to raise
the standard of living on the farms, to establish
a just and representative government, and to
gain a bigger, better, freer life all along the line."

THE UNITED FARM WOMEN 123

The evening was given over entirely to
addresses by the ladies, chief among the speakers
being Mrs. Brodie, Mrs. Laws, and Miss
Griesbach. The president indulged in some
plain talk, in which she made abundantly clear
the attitude and ambition of the women. *'I
think," said she, "that there is only one thing
worse than a farm without a woman and that is a
farm without a man. What we women want to
do is to co-operate with you men in Municipal,
Provincial, and Federal matters, the same as we
co-operate in the home. We ask no favors; we
do not want anything for ourselves that the men
do not get, and we do not want the men to have
anything that we cannot share in." And
again, — "Some of you men can look back to the
time when all through the country everything
was done by co-operation; there were bees for
everything — men had logging bees, paring bees,
husking bees and wood-cutting bees, while the
women had bees for quilting and all that. At
that time there was a social life in Canada that
we have lost, and we are very much poorer, but
it is not altogether our fault that we have lost
it. We have been robbed of it by unjust
economic laws, and the women want to join up
with the men for better laws, more equal laws,
and we want to work for your motto which we
take for our motto, 'Equal opportunity for all,

124 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

special privileges for none'." So sincere and con-
vincing were these words that nearly every man
went home to his club to advocate linking up
the women of his community in the movement.
A practical difficulty arose and was dealt
with at this convention, and to understand the
organization fully, mention must be made of it
here. In many localities women were anxious
to have a place in the life of the club, but were
not willing to form a club of their own. What
was to be done for them so that they might have
some standing? It is significant that a bachelor
director came forward with the suggestion
which solved the difficulty. A resolution was
passed by the executive and approved by the
convention which amended the constitution so
as to allow women to become members of clubs
on the same terms as men, wherever there was
no separate U.F.W.O. This arrangement has
worked most satisfactorily. It must be clearly
understood, however, that the U.F.W.O. is not
an association marked off from the U.F.O.
Women who are members of the U.F.W.O. are
at the same time members of the U.F.O.,
because there are no separate funds. The
women's membership fees are paid to the trea-
surers of the U.F.O. clubs and through them
transmitted to Head Office where the funds are
common to men and women alike.

r

THE UNITED FARM WOMEN 125

Through the activities of the women great
things were hoped for, and events have demon-
strated that such hope was well grounded. As
an illustration of what is being accomplished we
can take the words of a leader in a woman's
club in Western Ontario as she wrote to a friend :

"It was during the dark days of the War that
we farm women banded ourselves together,
forming one of the live clubs in that splendid
Red Cross organization. Through our work in
it, we caught a vision of what can be accom-
plished through co-operative effort. During
the winter of 1919, when our overseas work came
to an end, we felt a keen desire to continue in the
way of service, and to give of our time and energy
in making our community a better place to live
in. Our husbands, who were already United
Farmers', whispered to us that they wanted our
help in their organization and so we formed a
U.F.W.O We meet twice a month.

*'In making out our programme, which we
have type- written or printed, we select topics
which we know will be interesting and instruc-
tive. We have every woman in our club take
some particular item each year, and by this
means make every member feel that the success
of the club depends as much on her as on any
other member. By each doing her bit, whether
it be great or small, we have all learned to take

126 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

our share of responsibility, and now know that
we are a living force in the community.

Whenever we meet together, every woman
receives a cordial welcome. By words and
messages of encouragement we seek to develop
a real neighborly and co-operative spirit, greatly
adding to our community life. At our meetings
we have an opportunity to make friends, to forget
ourselves in working for others, and to express
our thoughts without embarrassment. No fea-
ture on our programme has proved more bene-
ficial than the social half hour set apart at each
meeting for the purpose of becoming better
acquainted.

"We always have objectives to work for. It
may be the supplying of good literature for our
homes, it may be work for some charitable
institution, it may be for our local schools by
way of decorating or putting better equipment
in them. Now we visit or send flowers to the
sick, again we are assisting the school or agricul-
tural fair, this time it will be a baby clinic, and
by a fine effort in 1920 we established a rest room
of our own in town. For all these purposes we
raise money through teas, concerts, garden
parties, lectures and plays.

"Today, looking back and taking stock of
what we have accomplished, we feel that our
efforts have been more than repaid. We have

THE UNITED FARM WOMEN 127

learned to respect one another, to be loyal to
one another, to set aside trivial annoyances, to
be considerate of each other's opinions, and to
give as well as take. Every year brings an
increase in our membership, proving that
through our activities our women are awakening
to the necessity of doing something for the im-
provement of rural conditions, and to the success
that can be attained through co-operative effort."

By the time that the second annual convention
was held in December, 1919, most encouraging
progress had been made. In contrast with the
three clubs reported in affiliation with Head
Office at the meeting in December the year
before, the secretary could now show a member-
ship of about 2,000 grouped in seventy clubs. If
anyone doubted the strength of their organiza-
tion by this time, his doubts must have been dis-
pelled through the splendid showing made by
the woman delegates as they occupied seats on
the platform of Massey Hall behind the newly
elected farmer members of the Provincial
Government on the evening of December the
nineteenth.

Many excellent discussions took place at this
convention, but the most vital to the movement
was that which turned on the young people of
the farms. The women were the first to see the
importance of work amongst the young people

128 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

and also were the first to take steps to enlist
their interest. Mrs. Frank Webster of Cam-
bray presented the case for the young people so
effectively that she was appointed one of a com-
mittee to bring in a report on how best to form
a young people's branch of the U.F.O. While,
as convener of this committee, she was consider-
ing what to do, there came to her the report of a
committee of Alberta women on the Young
People's Department of their work. After
studying it carefully, she wrote out a draft con-
stitution adapted to conditions in Ontario which
she submitted to Head Office for consideration,
and at a directors' meeting of the U.F.O. held in
March it was provisionally adopted.

Shortly before this Mrs. Webster was in
Northern Ontario holding a series of meetings
and amongst other places she visited Peniel. A
large number of ladies and young people turned
out to hear her, to whom she outlined the aims
and operation of the proposed Young People's
Movement. It appealed so strongly to all
present that, although the draft constitution had
not yet been adopted by the directors, they
determined forthwith to take action. Thus,
at Peniel that evening in early March, 1920, the
first United Farm Young People's Club was
organized and has continued to do splendid
work ever since.

THE UNITED FARM WOMEN 129

The next club followed soon at Cambray,
Mrs. Webster's home locality. Writing of this
club Mrs. Webster says: — *'We are proud indeed
of our Young People's Brass Band, which has
been financed entirely by the club and has now
commenced playing at lawn socials and picnics.
The refining influence that good music carries
with it is wholesome, and we hope that through
such pastimes our young people will be better
prepared for the sterner tests of life. The fact
that boys and girls meet together, I believe, is a
strong point in favor of the movement. When
a leader is chosen from the senior organization,
parents are quite satisfied that their children
are in good keeping. My honest opinion is that
if we who are older will only give our time to
organizing the Junior Sections, and helping
them in any way we can, we will accomplish a
very great deal for the future of our movement
and our country."

Or another lady writes thus: — ''We never lose
sight of our energetic young girls. We have a
real live U.F.Y.P.O. club in our community, and
the girls of that club form a girls' committee in
our woman's club. Every month the girls
provide their share of the programme. The
enthusiasm, which we who are older gain from
our girls keeps us young in spirit, and strong in

130 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

determination to make our community a happy,
wholesome place for them."

The work of organizing the young people went
briskly forward until the annual convention in
December, 1920, when the constitution was
formally adopted. The constitution is almost
identical with that of the U.F.O. and U.F.W.O.,
except in those sections relating to membership
and voting privileges at conventions. To cover
these clauses the following rules are provided : —

''Any five young people with the assistance of
a U.F.O. or U.F.W.O. member in good standing
may organize a Junior Section.

'That a member of the U.F.O. or U.F.W.O. be
elected as leader of the Junior Section, whose
duty it shall be to supervise the work of the
Junior Section and to assist in planning pro-
grammes, debates, etc., to attend all meetings
and assist in every way to make the work of the
Junior Section of high educational value to each
member, always bearing in mind that the
raising of the standard of education in the whole
community is of fundamental importance.

"That the annual membership fee shall be
twenty-five cents, ten cents of which shall be
sent to Central Office.

*' Membership. Any unmarried person over
thirteen years of age may become a member
by giving his or her name to the Secretary-

THE UNITED FARM WOMEN 131

Treasurer, paying the annual membership fee
of twenty-five cents and taking the following
pledge before the other members of the club at a
regular or special meeting :

' 'Pledge . 'I promise to be loyal to the
organization, and to follow its laws; I will strive
to become a good citizen and uphold all that is
good and noble in the life of the nation. I
promise to be trustworthy, to give honest ser-
vice, pursue knowledge, glorify God, hold on to
health and be happy.' "

From what has been said thus far it will be
seen that the U.F.O. and U.F.W.O. work in
very close co-operation. Each has its own
separate officers, with the single exception of a
common treasurer, consisting of President, Vice-
President, Secretary, and a director for each
federal riding. Each has its own executive,
consisting of the first three officers just enum-
erated and four directors. The President and
Vice-President of one are, by virtue of their
office, members of the executive of the other and
should attend its meetings. Furthermore the
executive of one represents that body at all
Directors' meetings of the other. Frequently
the two complete boards of directors meet
together, when an important matter of policy is
to be dealt with.

Thus the women and the young people have

132 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

entered a large field of service and have made
their voices heard in the counsels of the men.
Not only have they made their voices heard, but
by their acts they have shown that they are
mightily in earnest and are determined that the
farmers* movement shall put into practice those
high ideals with which it started out, and which
womanhood has ever cherished. Something
has been accomplished, much remains to be
done. Until it is done we may rest assured that
the farm women of Ontario will be keenly active.

CHAPTER VI

THE FARMER IN POLITICS

Some attention has been paid already in these
pages to the poHtical activities of the organized
farmers. We have seen how in the early days
of Ontario development men came up from the
land to take counsel together on public questions,
and then we have noted the gradual disappear-
ance of rural leaders. From time to time fitful
attempts to regain position were made, attempts
successful for the moment but soon dissolving,
only to be followed by periods of deeper lethargy.
Of all these attempts none has proved more
vigorous nor more enduring than the U.F.O. in
which the old parties see such a powerful rival.
We are now to give some fuller consideration to
the political aspect of the movement.

"Farmers in Politics" has become a favorite
subject for discussion. It carries with it a
strange appeal for the average citizen, especially
if he be a farmer. Every day some ingenious
editor is offering an explanation for its fascina-
tion but very often he shoots wide of the mark.
Were not farmers always in Ontario politics?
Assuredly, but in what capacity? They

133

134 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

functioned as the great silent partner, engulfed
in the hereditary, partisan, stereotyped, political
machine, that fossilizes the individual and cor-
rupts the party. In that kind of politics the
farmer was so deep that frequently he quite
forgot legitimate interests and ignored the wel-
fare of the country. Yet very few, the farmer
least of all, realized it, and so the statement
"farmers are in politics" is not, as at first it
sounds, so strangely incongruous and empty.
Current events teach us that the statement is
full of meaning and we behold an old, un-
noticed fact in its new and dazzling setting. No
longer is the farmer the donkey engine of the
politician, used to elevate others to high places.
Rather he chooses now to act on his own volition,
elevating to position whom he will, and by so
choosing, elevating himself.

It is not within the scope of this work to
discuss systems of government at any length,
weighing for instance the merits of party
government as against group government. But
it is necessary that we note some of the features
and the. effects of the party system which we
now have, in order to understand the attitude of
the farmers toward it.

Political parties, whether Liberal or Conserva-
tive, are subject to the^same tendencies and the
same natural laws as affect individuals, or small

THE FARMER IN POLITICS 135

groups of individuals. Political parties originat-
ed, no doubt, in legitimate divergence of opinion
on questions of sufficient importance to arouse
strong feeling. The feeling varied in degree of
earnestness, the more earnest influencing the less
earnest until divisions were firmly established in
party form.

Farmers, like others, were absorbed in these
parties and theoretically had just the same
opportunity to wield an influence as any others,
but owing to the isolated manner of their living,
they gave little thought to collective action.
Individualists in ownership, in effort, and in
thought, what more natural than that they should
give scant attention to what was going on in
urban industry, and only recently get the idea
of co-operative effort as a means of benefiting
their industry? John Brown and Alex. Smith,^
living the same kind of life side by side, whose
economic interest was the same, and whose
political interest was the same, conscientiously
and successfully did the best they could to
destroy any political influence they might exer-
cise by cancelling each others votes on election
day. Aside from the "outing*' they might just
as well have paired and remained at home, for all
that their effort advanced the choice of a repre-
sentative.

Such loyal supporters of party are not the

136 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

deciding factor in elections. Rather it is those
who think independently on the issues at
stake.

Now farmers, composing about one half of the
population, were fairly evenly divided between
the two old parties, and the more even the
division, the less their influence in directing the
policies of the nation. To demonstrate this
fact we have only to cite the case of a large and
fruitful township in a western county containing
76,000 acres of farm lands, with not an incor-
porated urban municipality within its bound-
aries. The line of agriculture followed is mixed
farming and the population is of English and
Scotch descent. At the time of the Reciprocity
Election in 1911 the township contained about
twelve hundred voters.

The reciprocity issue was one which affected
farmers vitally. It was not a matter of little
good or little harm ; it was a measure that would
be attended by far-reaching results, and these
twelve hundred people were called upon to
register their opinion at the polls. When the
ballots were counted there was just a difference
of five votes in the majority from that recorded
at the previous election. To those who have
lived long in the country and know conditions
intimately, this is but a typical example of how
party affiliations held first place and beclouded

THE FARMER IN POLITICS 137

e judgment that men otherwise might have
exercised in arriving at a political decision.

Many similar cases might be enumerated, for
they are freely found and they lead us to enquire
for a cause. Chief among contributing factors
was the manner of our political education.
From infancy to manhood the home atmosphere
was laden with hereditary, partisan influences,
generally following the leanings of the male
ancestry. In rare cases only did the female
members of the household take an active part in
politics and thus they lacked positive influence.
The predominating sway came from the father
of the home.

Moreover, the literature entering the home,
including the party newspaper, was chosen by
the same head also. The newspaper fed him
with propaganda and he reflected the thought
of the newspaper. Thus, during their most
impressionable period, our youth were subjected
to highly partisan teaching. As they attained
manhood they continued with the paper which
delivered to them facts, partly told, true
perhaps, but not all the truth. These half
truths were supplemented with arguments pre-
pared by able men, who were not always writing
what they believed but what they were paid to
write. Stated in other words, men who had
capitalized their ability and sold it to the less

10

138 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

able than they, were the instruments of the
press. The press in turn was the instrument
of money. Money then, rather than conviction,
was moulding public opinion. The brains that
should guide the nation had yielded place to
organized grasping, and the sordid influences of
those who desired wealth only became the chief
directing agency.

In their hands the press became divided into
two factions, each faction with adherents both
in town and country. Bitter, political partisan
warfare ensued. Journals that tried to main-
tain an independent course and give honest and
truthful discussion of public questions continu-
ally had to yield to the powerful interests
arrayed against them, or cease to exist. As an
illustration of how these partisan papers affected
the situation, a case that came under the writer's
notice may be quoted.

A farmer of Conservative leanings, who for
many years had taken two leading Tory papers,
had been induced to discontinue one of them and
substitute therefor a Grit paper. The reading
of this for a time modified his views on many
things. A neighbor of his, with whom he was
on the most intimate terms, read the two Tory
papers. One day they met, and falling into a
political discussion they disagreed. ''Why
don't you stop one of your Tory papers," said

THE FARMER IN POLITICS 139

the former, ''and take a Grit paper instead?
Then you would get both sides of the question
and could form a better opinion on any issue."
The answer was full of meaning. "Oh," said his
friend of the two Tory papers, ''it is just this
way. Suppose you and I cannot agree on some
matter and we call in a third party to settle the
dispute. If I tell him all truth, and you tell him
all lies, how is he going to make a just decision?"

Thus the influence of the party press was at
times supreme in moulding public opinion.
Each party was fed by its press with the partisan
views calculated to stimulate narrowness, and
suspicion of the other party. So great was the
efficiency of the press in carrying on partisan
propaganda, that issues could be camouflaged by
raising cries of race and religion. As an example
one might take the general election of 1911,
supposedly fought on the issue of reciprocity,
but really on the score of race and religion.

But once let that unbounded confidence in the
press be shaken and a new order of things was
sure to result. Let the masses of the people
begin to think for themselves and woe betide
the party heeler. There comes to mind a
noted saying of Sir Wilfred Laurier, "The people
must be heard, trust the people," and another of
Sir John A. Macdonald in which he speaks of the
rural people as the "great steadying influence."

140 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

The people to be trusted and their influence to be
steadying must be thoughtful and intelligent.
The craze of party must be cured.

The first indication of a reawakening, inde-
pendent, political thought in organized agricul-
ture came in the closing years of the last
century. It was accompanied with a desire to
induce the existing parties to live up to pre-
election promises, and to implement doctrines
advocated by themselves. This line of action
reached its height in 1910 when the monster
delegation proceeded to Ottawa, pressing upon
the Laurier Government, then in power, to
approach the United States with a view to lower-
ing the tariff. The practicability of that line of
action can be best judged by the results obtained.

The political aspirations of the U.F.O. ,
originally were very similar. Leaders and
members did not contemplate entering the
political field actively, but by education to
enlighten the farmers on economies, and awaken
them to the true relationship of politics to their
industry. This objective could only be attained
through the circulation of literature, and through
public addresses by speakers reasonably free
from partisan bias. Much difficulty attended
the securing of such speakers. Party ties are
hard to sever, both for speaker and for listener.
The dark, discouraging days of early organiza-

THE FARMER IN POLITICS 141

tion will not soon be forgotten by those who
took part in the movement. Some way had to
be found of arousing sufficient interest to make
farmers think, even if it hurt.

In the days of horse-drawn vehicles for
pleasure, one frequently noted a dashing team on
one side of the street and a tired, moping
delivery horse on the other. The team gave an
observer the impression of somehow being proud
of their job and conscious of their merit, while
the delivery horse showed no interest in any-
thing. The team had a will of their own, as
was shown by the care with which the driver
handled them, while a lash of the whip meant
nothing to the delivery horse other than that he
quickened his pace somewhat.

Looking back now, one would think that the
early U.F.O. leaders must many a time have
pondered this very picture, for they went
directly at arousing in the farmer respect for
himself and his job. Was it not agriculture
that they were out to help primarily? Then
demand a square deal for agriculture, and on
the basis of agriculture rally the farmers. In
other words, arouse in the farmer a class
consciousness.

The programme was as successful as it was
direct, and by that plan of action it was only a
step to political action, as sure to follow as day

142 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

follows night. The rural people did as all other
men have done. Once class consciousness
possesses men they demand a share in govern-
ment, and the U.F.O. was no exception. When
the step would be taken was only a matter of
time. It merely needed the conditions that
would crystalise into action the opinions already
formed.

Such conditions appeared when in 1918 the
Dominion Government cancelled the military
exemptions granted to all young men between
the ages of nineteen and twenty-two years of
age inclusive, actively engaged in agriculture.
This action dealt a severe blow to agriculture,
more severe than to any other industry. Any
one familiar with farm life knows that the skilled
and efficient workman in agriculture is the young
man of just this age. He is the hustler. He it is
who runs the tractor and the gas engine, the
three or four horse team, and machinery gener-
ally. Moreover, not only is he the mainstay, but
he is the prospective future owner of the
homestead when the parents cease to operate it.
But this boy, who had been exempted on the
ground that the empire needed food just as
urgently as it needed soldiers, now had his
exemption cancelled, and was called to the
colors. The decision of the Government was
particularly onerous to agriculture because the

THE FARMER IN POLITICS 143

cancellation took place right at the commence-
ment of seeding when hours meant bushels, and
when every farmer was keyed up by the exhorta-
tion of the Government to produce to the limit.

Work practically ceased on hundreds of farms
and the office of the U.F.O. was deluged with
letters asking what could be done. From early
morning till late at night angry men sought the
office asking that some action be taken to impress
upon the Cabinet the view of agriculture that a
mistake had been made.

The executive of the U.F.O. had no other
alternative than to tender its best services to the
rural people. They assisted in organizing a
delegation of farmers to Ottawa to voice rural
opinion. A circular letter was sent to all
township clerks, notifying them that if their
municipality wished to give expression to their
views they should send representatives to Ottawa
on May 14th, 1918. About the same time a
letter was received from Quebec, over the
signature of Jean Mason, secretary of the
Comptoir Co-operative de Montreal, asking
what action Ontario was taking. Reply was
made that a delegation was being sent, but that
if Quebec decided on action they should deal
directly with the Minister of Agriculture, Hon.
T. A. Crerar. In a few days, a letter from Mr.
Crerar notified Head Office that arrangements

144 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

had been made for a Quebec delegation to inter-
view the Government on the same day as that
proposed for Ontario.

When the Ontario delegation arrived, three
thousand strong, they were met by one of equal
strength from Quebec. French speaking
Catholics, Irish Catholics, and Orangemen for-
got ancient feuds and mingled as brothers. A
new community of interest was engendered,
and a feeling grew up that, after, all, they were
all Canadians. This huge crowd of representa-
tives was met on behalf of the Government by
Premier Borden, Hon. T. A. Crerar, and Hon.
N. W. Rowell, while Manning Doherty and
W. A. Amos spoke for Ontario and Hon. J. E.
Caron spoke for Quebec.

The representation made to the ministers was
that if they considered men to be more necessary
than food, then they were right in taking them,
but it was idle to take the men and expect food
to be produced at the same time; that in any
event, the men should not be taken until harvest
was over, for if taken in the spring they could
not be trained for the trenches until winter when
little active warfare was carried on, but if taken
after harvest they would be ready for spring
activity. To these representations Premier
Borden did not give a very sympathetic reply.

But the farmers were in earnest and were

THE FARMER IN POLITICS 145

determined to register their complaint before
the members of Parliament. Therefore, in a
letter addressed to Hon. E. N. Rhodes, the
speaker of the Commons, they requested a hear-
ing before the bar of the House. This being
refused by the Premier, the farmers formed in a
huge procession and marched to the doors of
the House, where they were denied admission.
(Several days later, Mr. Vien succeeded in having
the text of the remonstrance placed on Hansard.
For a copy of this text and also of the cor-
respondence see appendix.)

This literal shutting of the door in their faces
did more than any one thing to cause the
political upheaval which has since taken place.
Liberals and Conservatives alike denounced the
Government, and threatened that when oppor-
tunity offered they would not forget the recep-
tion tendered them at Ottawa on May 14th,
1918. On June 7th, at the huge convention
of over three thousand farmers held in Massey
Hall, future activities formed the theme for
discussion. Bitter reproaches were hurled at
the autocratic cabinet, while many pleasant
references were made to ''our fellow farmers of
Quebec.'* As speaker after speaker advised
political action as soon as opportunity offered, a
feeling of entire unanimity took possession of
the meeting.

146 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

Little did they think that a test of their
sincerity would be so soon appHed in a remote
riding in the north. In ManitouHn a Provincial
by-election was to be held in the autumn, and the
farmers of the island, many of whom had been at
Ottawa and also at the June convention, talked
of placing an independent candidate in the field.
At a convention of the clubs it was decided
definitely to take this step and at a later con-
vention Beniah Bowman was chosen to contest
the riding.

All the force of the Government was centred
in the fight. Ridicule and slander of U.F.O.
officers featured the tactics of the Government
speakers. Accustomed to the old time party
machine they had failed to note the fact that
U.F.O. officers on whom they poured scorn and
vituperation had practically nothing to do with
the campaign. The local clubs themselves had
decided on action regardless of central officers,
and it was not until after the candidate was in
the field that Head Office was called upon to
assist in furnishing speakers. Records indicate
that the farmer speakers paid scant attention to
the biting misrepresentation of the government
orators, but appealed rather to the reasoned
judgment of the electors. As a result of the
campaign in this riding, which had for many
years been strongly Conservative in politics,

THE FARMER IN POLITICS 147

Mr. Bowman was returned with the com-
fortable majority of two hundred and forty.
Within a few months, in the by-election in
North Ontario, Mr. Widdifield, the farmer
candidate, was also victorious.

Success in these two by-elections greatly
added to the confidence and self-respect of the
farmers. Speaking generally, the U.F.O. clubs
grew in numbers very rapidly, and from all parts
a desire to take active, concerted action in the
impending General Provincial Election was
expressed. To this demand, originating in and
emanating from the clubs. Head Office could do
none other than respond.

The writs were issued for the Provincial elec-
tions to be held on October 20th, 1919, and in
the meantime only slight preparations had been
made by the general executive and officers for
assisting the clubs in the local ridings. Thus
a committee, consisting of E. C. Drury, W. C.
Good and Manning Doherty, was appointed to
place in collective form the scattered ideas em-
bodied in resolutions passed by delegates assem-
bled in the annual conventions, and out of these
to evolve a provisional platform. The result
of their labor was the following document,— r

"Whereas the rural population of Ontario
has been declining for many years, being now
139,000 less than it was in 1881, and this in

148 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

spite of natural increase in population, immigra-
tion, and extension of settlement;

And Whereas rural life has been rendered
difficult and trying, and farm production has
been checked ;

And Whereas the present condition in the
rural districts is justly attributable to the
unequal rewards of farm and town industry,
owing to the dominance, in Parliament and
Legislature, of privileged urban interests;

And Whereas the Provincial public debt has
increased at an alarming rate (now exceeding
100 million dollars) and the annual expenditure
of the Province has increased almost five-fold in
the last 15 years;

And Whereas both of the old parties are
responsible for this state of affairs ;

Therefore, We, the United Farmers of
Ontario, deem it our duty, to ourselves and the
Province, to seek independent representation in
the Legislature, with the following objects;

1. To cut out all expenditures that are not
absolutely essential.

2. To abolish the system of party patronage.

3. To limit Governmental activity respecting
commercial co-operation, to legislation facilitat-
ing co-operative effort, to the keeping of accurate
records, and to general education along co-opera-
tive lines.

THE FARMER IN POLITICS 149

4. To provide equal educational opportunities
for all the children of all the people, by greatly
extending and improving educational facilities
in the rural districts.

5. To substitute for the policy of expensive
Provincial highways, a policy of organized
continuous road maintenance, and of making
good roads for all rather than high-grade roads
for a few, the cost of road construction and
maintenance being equitably distributed be-
tween city and country.

6. To promote a system of forestry which will
maintain and increase the public revenue from
this source, protect and perpetuate our forest
resources, re-forest the waste places of Old
Ontario, and encourage municipalities to engage
in forestation enterprises.

7. To encourage and cheapen Hydro Electric
development and maintain effective public con-
trol over it.

8. To enact and enforce such prohibitory
legislation against the liquor traffic as the people
may sanction in the approaching referendum
and as lies within the power of the Province.
Prohibition is an integral part of the Farmers*
Platform, and the U.F.O. will use its influence in
that direction.

9. To extend the policy and practice of Direct

150 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

Legislation through the Initiative and the
Referendum.

10. To apply the principle of Proportional
Representation to our Electoral methods."
This platform, along with other statements of
principle and additional data, furnished a basis
for campaign activities. It should be noted
that not even yet did the farmers desire, nor did
they regard themselves as attempting to form a
new party, but rather as making an effort to
return a number of independent representatives
who would stand for the principles which they
enunciated, principles that were not merely
sectional but national in that they were in the
interests of all the people.

In no case were the electors urged or advised
to place candidates in the field by the central
executive. Head Office giving assistance only
when requested to do so. Enthusiasm ran high
and by nomination day in sixty-four ridings
supporters of U.F.O. principles were in the field,
out of which forty-four were returned with large
majorities. Thus the U.F.O. representatives
were the most numerous of any one group in the
legislature, yet not numerous enough to form
and carry on a government by themselves.

When the elected representatives assembled,
subsequent to election day, three alternatives
were discussed as possible courses for immediate

THE FARMER IN POLITICS 151

procedure. The first was to form a group
government by giving Cabinet representation
according to elected numerical strength. Such
an arrangement would have given two seats
each to Liberals and Conservatives, one to Labor,
and the rest to the Farmers. Thus a govern-
ment in which all parties would have their fair
share of responsibility would have had an
opportunity to function. Another plan was to
refuse to form a government on the ground that
as no party had a working majority over the
combined opposition it was unfair to ask any
leader to take the responsibility. This would
necessitate an immediate appeal to the people.
The third plan was to form an alliance with
Labor, not a fusion but simply a working
alliance.

All these alternatives were discussed at length
and each had its adherents. The last named
plan was finally adopted, two cabinet seats fall-
ing to Labor as their just share. Then began
the difficult undertaking of forming a cabinet
and getting a grip of the public business. Some
idea of the greatness of the task can be gained
when it is stated that only two of the elected
farmer members had ever sat in parliament
before and hardly any one member was person-
ally known to any other. Of the long negotia-
tions entered into it is not within our province

152 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

to write here, as that will form the substance of
another story. It is sufficient to record that in
forming the cabinet (whose names appear on
page 155) the Government leader, the Attorney-
General, and the Minister of Agriculture were
chosen from outside the elected members.

The success at the polls achieved in Ontario
by the United Farmers gave courage to rural
people all over Canada and prompted them to
turn their attention to the political citadel at
Ottawa. Whenever a by-election for the
Dominion House was held in a predominantly
rural riding, a farmer candidate entered the
contest. R. H. Halbert, President of the
U.F.O. , although a resident of Dufferin County,
was asked by the electors of North Ontario to be
their standard bearer, and in a particularly
difficult fight was elected with a good majority.
Glengarry next returned J. W. Kennedy, East
Elgin returned S. S. McDermand, and from the
far north Temiskaming sent Angus MacDonald.
The confidence inspired by this continued
success will undoubtedly have a vital bearing on
the outcome of the general election looming up
in the immediate future.

These electoral skirmishes gave a distinctly
political tendency to rural gatherings. Ques-
tions of public policy, systems of government,
and the responsibility of parliamentary repre-

THE FARMER IN POLITICS 153

sentatives to their constituents have been freely
discussed by U.F.O. speakers at meetings and
picnics, women and men alike taking a keen
interest in all that was said. Thus there has
developed in the rural electors a vision of their
personal responsibility to the state, party ties
have been weakened or destroyed, and success
at elections, so often regarded hitherto as an end
in itself, is now taken merely as the means to an
end. Since the association is generally con-
sidered, and quite rightly so, to be the active
force that has made such progress possible,
the net result has been a marked impetus to the
U.F.O.

One of the most unique features of the
political procedure of the United Farmers is
their method of forming their platform. Being
ultra-democratic in spirit and in doctrine they
attempt to carry this principle into all their
efforts. Resolutions from the various local
clubs relating to public matters are sent to Head
Office and laid before the delegates assembled in
annual , convention. Here they are discussed,
and if endorsed, they are placed in a tentative
platform and sent back to all the clubs for
discussion. Failing serious criticism, the result
is the provincial platform, or in the case of the
National Platform it is passed on to the
Canadian Council of Agriculture. The Council
11

154 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

may accept it or perhaps amend it, and send it
back to all the Provincial annual conventions
for endorsation. It then becomes the national
platform of organized agriculture throughout
Canada. Owing to the suddenness with which
election contests have been sprung it has not
always been possible to carry out this full pro-
cedure, but it is the process which the United
Farmers hold as a practical ideal and which they
have been able to live up to pretty well.

Concerning the record of the farmer repre-
sentatives in Parliament much could be written,
but adequate treatment would require more
space than this chapter permits. When policies
initiated have had time to work out the results
will form the material for another study. Just
here we must content ourselves with noting that
in the Ontario Legislature several issues of far-
reaching importance have had to be dealt with
and have been faced resolutely. At Ottawa a
firm stand has been taken on questions such as
the Tariff, the Merchant Marine, the National
Railways and International Relations. What
the future holds is only forecasted by what the
farmers have already said and done. Their
hope for making a permanent contribution to
the national life rests in the thoroughness with
which they are possessed by lessons learned while
walking up and down the field behind the plow.

THE FARMER IN POLITICS 155

Ontario Farmer-Labor Cabinet, 1919

Premier Hon.

Minister of Highways Hon.

Minister of Agriculture . . .Hon.
Minister of Education . . . .Hon.
Minister of Lands and

Forests Hon.

Minister of Mines Hon.

Minister of Labor Hon.

Minister without Portfolio .Hon .

Attorney-General Hon.

Provincial Secretary Hon.

E. C. Drury Barrie

F. C. Biggs West Flam-

boro
Manning Doherty. .Malton
R. H. Grant Stittsville

Beniah Bowman. . . .Long Bay

Harry Mills Fort William

Walter Rollo Hamilton

DouGAi. Carmichael . Collingwood

W. E. Raney Toronto

H. C. Nixon St. George

CHAPTER VII

STOCK-TAKING

In days gone by there was a familiar song
which had for its refrain "the only independent
man is the man behind the plow." The refrain
was catching, and was sung lustily, not only by
those who had never stood between plow handles,
but also by many honest farmers themselves.
No more striking illustration of the fact that
the most solid and contented citizen is the pros-
perous farmer could be found than these
same singing agriculturists. But unfortunately
many farmers did not sing that song. The fell
clutch of circumstance had taught them the
true character of their independence and the
shallow sentiment of the refrain. The farmer
was free to rise at five or seven, to plow today
and harrow tomorrow as he chose, but when
debts came due and market day told its tale, he
learned that of the larger collective, economic
and intellectual freedom, he enjoyed compara-
tively little. Of individual, competitive freedom
he exercised much, but when he came to employ
his wits and his strength in competition with
other classes he learned how helpless he was.

166

STOCK-TAKING 157

His independence was not so clear and far-
reaching as at first glance it might seem.

Collective independence stood out to the eyes
of farmer leaders as the status to be striven for.
In the previous pages we have seen how
valiantly they have struggled and what pro-
gress has been made. Very much has been
accomplished, and now as we survey the whole,
our attention is first attracted to the organiza-
tion. We see the entire province dotted with
clubs, all knit together in a web centreing in
Head Office. From the outskirts to the centre
and from the centre to the outskirts in this net-
work of activity, people are passing, messages
are being carried, and ideas exchanged. Here
the commercial company is functioning, there
the paper is doing its work, and everywhere
members are coming together for consultation.
The organization, in all its completeness, is the
first vivid impression.

Noting this, the question is at once suggested,
what in a vital sense does it stand for. Before
the United Farmers were ever heard tell of the
individual farmers were just as busy, they were
raising just as much produce, and were apparent-
ly performing their function in the national life.
As a matter of fact, however, their efforts were
one sided. So much attention was being paid
to production that very little notice was being

158 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

taken of the final results. The farmer was not
considering his occupation from the standpoint
of the body economic. Too often he was work-
ing at cross purposes with his neighbor.

In some measure at least, that has been modi-
fied. Men and women of the country are think-
ing beyond their farms and beyond their own
community, and are putting their thoughts into
operation. They are acting collectively, and
that is what organization makes possible. A
host of men and women have been fired with a
will to make agriculture a great and respected
industry. In this host are many who are luke-
warm ; a majority probably have not yet caught a
vision of what it all means. But amongst the
throng are many who see and cannot be daunted,
and whose spirit is gradually spreading through
the ranks. Outside the ranks are many farmers
who are watching and hesitating, and who
have yet to be brought in. The organization is
the medium through which the dauntless ones
can work, and by which all, as they see, can
exert their strength in a given direction. At all
odds an efficient framework or organization must
be preserved.

But anyone who has scanned the pages of
history or has had much to do in concerted
action with his fellow men, knows very well that
no organization can live and prosper unless it be

STOCK-TAKING 159

animated with an active, pulsating life. The
mere machinery of organization counts for very
little. Organization involves far more than
machinery, and particularly it involves spirit
and action. If anyone requires a mental picture
of what happens to a great organization once
interest abates, he has but to reflect on the
record of the Grange. At one time that great
association held rural Ontario in its hand. It
offered a task and carried a message for a multi-
tude of farmers. It touched intimately their
lives and interests. With advancing times those
interests became greatly changed, and the
Grange failing to keep abreast of those interests
soon lost its appeal. The spirit of the move-
ment waned, and as it waned, the organization
dwindled almost to the vanishing point. In this
picture of a once prosperous, farmers* association,
fallen into decline, the leaders of the U.F.O.
have a constant warning of what must inevitably
happen if their organization fails to keep abreast
of the times and do a work sufficiently vital to
enlist and retain the active interest of its mem-
bers.

Yet no one would minimize the difficulty of
maintaining interest. The problems with which
the U.F.O. has grappled are enormously diffi-
cult of solution. It has proclaimed as its task
the correction of the injustices under which not

160 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

only the farmer but other classes suffer. "Equal
opportunity to all, special privileges to none."
The correction of injustice carries a popular
appeal, it sounds well, men and women are
attracted by it, and great things are hoped for
immediately. But, on close investigation, the
channels of injustice have been long developing,
and they run into a multitude of ramifications.
Take for instance the case of a farmer marketing
his load of hogs. Before the U.F.O. took a
hand in the marketing process he first of all sold
to the drover. The drover in turn was depen-
dent on the packer, while the packer was subject
on the one hand to the foreign market and on the
other to the banker. The banker in turn is
under the thumb of the great commercial banks
financing international trade, while, with it all,
governmental regulations are so mixed up that
the whole complex of factors becomes a maze of
intricacy. At every stage there is infinite
possibility for injustice. Yet the farmer has
declared that he will correct this. He does not
get very far until he finds, in the abattoir or the
bank for instance, that he must look to men for
assistance who are not farmers, and who are not
schooled in U.F.O. principles. These men are
the product of our schools and similar institu-
tions. Thus he finds that school, and church,
and every other educational agent is very

STOCK-TAKING 161

vitally connected with the price that he receives
for his load of hogs.

In declaring for justice and setting out to
realise it, the farmer has undertaken a very
large order. Men outside his association, who
realize the size of the job, often laugh at him, but
let no one forget that he has already made some
progress toward his goal. He has attacked
those phases of weakness and injustice which
come closest to him and which are most obvious.
For instance he has seen the folly of grinding
away alone on his own little hundred acres,
regardless of how his neighbor may be conduct-
ing his farm, or how his fellow farmer on the
prairie may be marketing his wheat. In some
measure he has learned that farmers, wherever
they may live, have much in common, that the
prosperity of the whole body is measured by the
prosperity of each individual, and that any
prosperity desired can be best attained through
collective action. By co-operating, as a result of
organization, he has already wiped out some
glaring commercial abuses in the marketing of
his products, and has revived a splendid com-
munity spirit in hundreds of localities through-
out the Province.

But the measure of his success is at the same
time the measure of his danger just now. The
farmer who has "joined up" has expected great

162 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

things, and has expected them immediately.
But even as injustice has been a long time in
entrenching itself securely here and there in our
national and community life, so justice must toil
tediously to drive it forth. Reforms are slow to
become well established. One might cite count-
less examples. Think, for instance, of the
bringing about of free trade in Great Britain.
Freedom of trade was proclaimed in Great
Britain seventy-five years ago and those who
have stood for this principle have been compelled
to wage a constant fight against those who would
overthrow it. Even now after these seventy-
five years we find interested parties managing
to have protective duties placed on numerous
articles. Add to this that the measure came in
the first place only after decades of agitation, and
one sees how slowly privilege yields ground. In
view of this, and with the certainty that relief
from wrongs cannot be brought about as speedily
as many members thought certain, the U.F.O. is
likely to suffer from a loss of interest on the part
of disappointed ones.

This points immediately to a further danger.
It is new to the U.F.O. but it is old in history.
Let us think of the U.F.O. as the latest phase
but as only one phase of the great farmers'
movement in Canada. In the opening chapter
we noted how almost a century and a half

STOCK-TAKING 163

ago farmers banded themselves together into
Agricultural Societies. These held the stage for
years, but interest waned and they yielded place
to the Grange. The Grange then had its day,
in turn declining and yielding place, for a time at
least, to the Patrons of Industry. The Patrons
after a brief space, as such disappeared entirely,
being succeeded by the Farmers' Association
and again the Grange, and now the U.F.O.
(It should be born in mind that the Grange is
still a strong organization.) Within these
particular associations themselves there were
periods of advance and decline. The fact to be
noted is that all are but expressions of the one
great, irresistible, pulsating life of rural Ontario,
which has had its ups and downs, now going
strongly, now momentarily recoiling in the face
of some great disappointment. So, while there
is good reason for believing that the U.F.O.
embraces more elements of permanence that any
of its predecessors, it would be contrary to
all the teaching of history to expect that it will
march steadily onward, never suffering from dis-
couragement and disappointment. A very
pressing question for leaders and members there-
fore will sometimes be, how to weather seasons of
depression. No one, with any understanding of
what has already been accomplished, will have
any fear that the farmers' movement, under any

164 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

circumstances, will die. He may have fears
that it will change in form. Unquestionably
change will come, but in order that such change
may not be violent, with attendant temporary
loss of ground, it is well for us to take stock, and
by searching out the elements of permanence
seek to develop and extend them.

Confronting every farmer, there is perpetually
a two sided problem, viz. how to live at all, and
how to live wisely. Men debate as to which is
the more important, but all agree that they are
intimately connected, and that if man is to con-
tinue in this world at all, his first worry is to
obtain food and shelter. Bloody riots and dis-
astrous civil strife have more than once broken
out under pressure of hunger and exposure. In
the face of the dire necessity for food every other
interest paled in significance. But with food
and shelter man is then disposed to consider
how he may live wisely.

The founders of the U.F.O. were not slow in
recognizing this great truth, and established at
the very outset a commercial company as an
integral part of the movement. Here was an
agency designed to appeal directly to the farmer
on the basis of his primary need. It handled
goods which the farmer required, he having the
assurance that so far as the company's operations
were involved, the service was given with a

STOCK-TAKING 165

minimum of profit. The same was true of goods
sold by the company for the farmer. While it
took time to develop the machinery, it is needless
to say that the appeal was irresistible where all
other arguments failed, with the result that
today the United Farmers have the splendid
company described in an earlier chapter. In the
commercial company there lies one of the chief
elements of permanence.

Passing over the necessity of wise management
with the mere mention of the fact, we go on to
consider dangers peculiar to the company which
members should think about. One of these lies
in the gross overstatement of benefits to be
expected, made by enthusiastic persons in their
anxiety to boost the U.F.O. Many of these
benefits can be realized only after years and
years of patient and determined effort. For
instance it has been frequently asserted that the
packers would be put out of business, the
manufacturers brought to their knees, and the
farmers would dictate prices, all in the twinkling
of an eye, once the farmers started their own
commercial enterprise. Leaving aside the
question as to whether this would be a desirable
state of aff^airs or not, it is to be noted that not
only has little been done in this direction, but
also that the profits of the company have been
very moderate. The service also has con-

166 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

stantly admitted of improvement, all going to
show that time and experience are necessary in
the development and conduct of busines enter-
prise. It should be repeated therefore in con-
nection with the co-operative company that
overstatement of expected benefits is sure to
react to some extent, but if members as a whole
take time to get a broad view of the movement,
patience is sure to come to the assistance of
weakening loyalty.

Another point to be noted in this connection
as a temporary hindrance also is the caution
required in entering new commercial fields.
This affects particularly those districts where
farming is highly specialized, and the handling
of the products requires technical skill. For
instance, bordering on Lake Erie there has
grown up a tobacco industry with drying plants
and other equipment. Nearby, there is the
sugar-beet industry, while in the Niagara
peninsula fruit is the chief item of importance.
Farmers from each of these in turn have come
more than once to the U.F.O. with the demand
that machinery be created to handle their pro-
ducts. Through lack of experience, funds, and
trained men, the directors have had to refuse
all such petitions, worthy and pressing though
they have been. No doubt, all these develop-
ments will come^ but in the meantime, very

I

STOCK-TAKING 167

naturally too, these farmers become impatient,
and many in the heat of resentment throw bricks
at their own heads by knocking the organization,
which, with determined support, offers them
the most ready way of deliverance. So, con-
sidered from the standpoint of extension into
hew territory, the limitations of the company in
entering new fields is a serious handicap. This
must be squarely faced, and patience both
cultivated and encouraged.

Perhaps there has been no more serious
obstacle to the practice of the co-operative
marketing business amongst farmers than their
reluctance to let their produce out of their im-
mediate hands without receiving cash for it on
the spot. Cash business is, without dispute, the
sane method, but co-operative business in its
most highly developed form can be considered as
a cash business. The factors involved can be set
out most clearly by illustration.

In the early days when money was scarce and
needs pressing, the settler obtained credit from
his store keeper. But the merchant did not
give that service for nothing. Not only did he
figure in his margin of profit interest to cover
the investment, but also a handsome percentage
to make up for doubtful debts. In other words,
the customer^paid for the service. Now, when
the drover pays cash for the hog, and the packer

168 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

pays the drover cash, and possibly the whole-
saler the packer, and the retailer the wholesaler,
the interest on the money necessary to carry the
product through all these hands is charged up
against the price of the hog and comes out of
the producer. Not only so, but other services
incidental to this method of finance are also
deducted.

Contrast with this the highly developed co-
operative method. It was the good fortune of
the writer to meet recently two directors of the
Aukland Farmers' Freezing Company of New
Zealand. This is a farmers' company which
slaughters, freezes, and markets livestock only.
At no time does it own the product. The
farmer out in the country ships in his bullock,
the bullock is slaughtered, and the carcass
is marked and frozen, and finally marketed. All
the time the farmer is the owner of his product.
Not until the carcass is finally marketed and
the money paid to the company does the farmer
receive his returns.

This may be an extreme example, but it
indicates the length to which farmers are gradu-
ally going, and the long and continued prosperity
of the company cited bears testimony to the
satisfaction given. No one who has lived on a
farm can shut his eyes to the dire necessity for
funds, pressing upon many a farmer. Often he

STOCK-TAKING 169

needs his money immediately. Co-operative
companies, as well as any other, can make
provision for him, but let no one forget that such
service must be paid for. One curse of business
in the past has been that farmers have not
thought about the factors involved in marketing
their produce and have allowed professional
dealers and speculators to assume the risk of
handling it. Is it any wonder that farmers
have so often been "done," and that there is such
a spread between the price of beef on the hoof
and beef on the butcher's block? The spread is
intimately bound up with the unwillingness of the
farmer to allow his product to go some distance
out of his sight before he receives his cash in
return. Encouraging progress in Ontario has
already been made in the application of this
principle through the co-operative shipment of
live stock and the sale of grain, cheese, and other
products. Further progress is inevitable, but
the more the principle involved is pondered and
understood, the more rapid the progress will be.
So in this way the commercial activities are
making the U.F.O. a factor in solving the
farmer's primary need, that of daily bread and
shelter. That need will be a perpetual need,
and so long as the service is right, the U.F.O. as a
business enterprise will be slow in perishing.
Here is an element of permanence, and it is

12

170 THE STOJIY OF THE U.F.O.

essential that leaders give close attention to the
conduct of the company to make very sure of
its success.

But, after all, the business appeal is nothing
more than the basis for a higher appeal. Were
there no U.F.O. , farmers would still continue
to secure daily bread and to live. We must
search deeper therefore for what is further
implied in the term "equal opportunity." Not
only is the farmer to live, but, with equal oppor-
tunity, he should live well. Certain, connected
passages from a well known book by Carlyle
will bear quotation here as illustrating further
essentials.

"Two men I honor and no third. First the
toil worn craftsman that with earth-made
implement laboriously conquers the earth and

makes her man's Toil on, thou are in

thy duty, be out of it who may; thou toilest for
the altogether indispensable, for daily bread.

"A second man I honor Him who is

seen toiling for the spiritually indispensable ; not

daily bread but the bread of life

These two in all their degrees I honor. All else
is chaff and dust which let the wind blow whither
it listeth.

"Touching is it, however, when I find both
dignities united ; and he that must toil outwardly
for the lowest of man's wants, is also toiling

STOCK-TAKING 171

inwardly for the highest. Sublimer in this
world know I nothing than a Peasant Saint."

And again, — ''It is not because of his toils that
I lament for the poor; we must all toil; no faith-
ful workman finds his toil a pastime

But what I do mourn over is that the lamp of his
soul should go out; that no ray of heavenly or
even of earthly knowledge should visit him.

That there should one man die ignorant

who had capacity for knowledge, this I call a
tragedy."

That so many farmers with a fine capacity for
knowledge have died ignorant is the tragedy of
agriculture, if indeed it is not surpassed by the
fact that so many are living in such a circum-
scribed world of their own today. It is not
suggested that farmers are more ignorant than
other classes, but no one will contend that the
fine intellects of the land are being cultivated and
employed as they might. So there emerges an
intellectual need, to satisfy which the U.F.O. is
taking vigorous measures. The great aim and
object of the U.F.O. is the training and utilizing
of public intelligence, especially as located in
rural Ontario. In undertaking thus to meet an-
other perpetual need the U.F.O. reveals one more
element of permanence.

Probably the successful conduct of this phase
of the work presents more difficulties than that

172 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

which is concerned primarily with daily bread.
Thoughts and desires are legion and men have
honest differences of opinion. Differences of
opinion are wholesome, but if those differences
extend to the ends of action which men regard as
desirable, there can be little concerted effort.
For instance, generally speaking, of late farmers
have simply asked to be left alone. Their ideal
was an isolated individualism in which ''where
ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise." But
their native intelligence was such that many
could not endure the consequences of such an
ideal, and we found emerging a new ideal, that of
an enlightened agriculture putting its ideas into
action. The strife between these two ideals is
still going on, but more and more the new ideal
is gaining ground. The greater measure of
adherence given to the new ideal, the more
effectively will the U.F.O. advance. In respect
of ideals it is desirable, when a body of citizens
is involved, that they think alike.

The farmer recently has made observations
on the basis of which he has reached definite
conclusions. The practice of himself and his
family is to rise early, to labor at physical toil
for long hours, and with a brief glance at the
daily paper to retire early to profound sleep.
He comes to town and he finds work commencing
at eight or nine o'clock in the morning and.

STOCK-TAKING 173

generally speaking, stopping at five or five
thirty in the evening, with Saturday afternoon
off and many holidays. While much of this
spare time is given up by many to gaiety and
wasteful folly, not a few take advantage of spare
time and opportunity to acquire knowledge.
The constant mingling of human beings in urban
centres, in whatever condition, has the further
effect of sharpening their wits and making the
individual dextrous in employing what know-
ledge he has. The farmer's conclusion is that he
himself would be well advised to concentrate
less on production, and to give more hours to
the study of how to live well.

The result of this conclusion has been nothing
short of marvellous. All up and down rural
Ontario today we find a rewakening interest in
recreation and social life. Hours and even days
are given over to discussions and meetings.
The effects of these are now seen both in
the home and in public matters. Already
they have made the U.F.O. a power in the
community and in the state. If anyone
who has had the privilege of attending many
annual meetings of the U.F.O. would have a
vivid picture of what has happened, let him con-
trast the nineteen hundred and twenty annual
convention with that of three years before.
Instead of the irresolute, groping crowd of the

174 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

former year he will find in last year's picture an
orderly, tolerant, and self respecting assembly.

Learning thus to respect himself and his call-
ing, he is out to command respect on the part of
others by developing in the ranks of agriculture
men and women of merit. As noted already in
another connection, in speeches of prominent,
political leaders, the farmer was looked upon by
other classes too much as a rustic of simple habits
and small mind. The pity of it was that he
accepted that judgment, time and again
designating himself as ''only a farmer." But
that is no longer true. His mind is active.
He is measuring the intelligence of agriculture
against the intelligence of other callings, dis-
puting for leadership. Let no one fancy that it
is an empty challenge, full of sound and fury.
The farmer has the qualities of heart and mind
that count, and it becomes a question of patience
and wise leadership how far the challenge may
be realized in victory. Of the credit for what
has been accomplished so far, the U.F.O. can
claim a great deal; of responsibility for further
development it must bear the immediate
brunt.

In view of that responsibility it is necessary
to take cognisance of an imminent danger,
threatening serious difficulty, if not destruction.
It lurks in political action. Already we have

STOCK-TAKING 175

bted how inevitably the United Farmers were
drawn into the political arena. They stood for
principles rather than for party, and seeing
small hope of realizing those principles through
the medium of the old parties they were led to
take independent action. Now politics have
always held a strange fascination for men with
active minds, and the farmers, with minds alert,
have temporarily, too many of them, been
captivated with political manifestations. The
only organization, visibly active in politics in
the past has been the party machine, and it is
small wonder therefore that so many United
Farmers, as well as other electors, view the
U.F.O. as nothing more than a third political
party. They think in terms of the old political
machine. No view could be more shallow and
dangerous, but if it is not to gain ground, leaders
must keep their heads level, and love of glory
with the ''spoils of office" well in check.

It is well for us therefore to determine what a
political party is, in fact. Today it has come
to mean little more than a human machine
designed to keep one set of men out of office and
another set in, who may enforce their wills upon
the whole body. Merit undoubtedly plays a
large part, but unfortunately expediency seems
too often to be the deciding factor. Party
politics has thus become an insincere game in

176 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

which the party itself has become the considera-
tion rather than the welfare of the country.

To expect that any body of electors can sud-
denly break with all such conceptions is to court
disappointment. Old affiliations and associa-
tions die hard. But the U.F.O. , as stated, came
forward with a different purpose, the demand
that justice supersede expediency. Thus in-
stead of legislation passed and administered
regardless of merit, a cause should be judged on
its merits, and be so dealt with by governments.
On this principle, should a cause be wrong and
be espoused by any group of legislators, it can
only lead to disaster. The principle which the
U.F.O. has enunciated has taken a mighty
hold on electors, and should that principle be
ignored, it must surely be the destruction of
those who enunciated and in turn violated it.

Once this truth is appreciated, it must become
clear that the U.F.O. is far more than a political
party in the accepted use of the term. True,
it is a party, in that it comprises a group of
electors, but from what has been said in former
chapters, the contrast between the functioning
of it and the old line parties easily demonstrates
the immeasurably greater task that lies before it.
While government is one prominent manifesta-
tion of its activity, let no one be so attracted by
that as to overlook the far greater work being

STOCK-TAKING 177

one quietly day by day in the clubs on the
concession lines. Here ideas have their birth,
and in the natural course grow into the public
opinion which all governments and adminis-
trators sooner or later find irresistible. In
nursing and training private and public opinion
the U.F.O. performs its basic task. On this its
leaders must continue to concentrate their best
thought.

According as the true nature of the task is
learned by both those within the organization
and those without, whether they be farmers or
not, there will be an increasingly large measure of
co-operation amongst all citizens. Co-operation
is the watchword of the association, and as the
members co-operate they make progress. More
and more, men and women are coming to realize
that no man lives unto himself but that his
prosperity has some bearing on the prosperity
of many others. So all thinking farmers seek
to extend the spirit and practice of co-operation
to classes other than agriculture. That does
not mean that the U.F.O. is to be thrown open to
everybody, but it does mean that the U.F.O.,
as the farmers' organization, should be ready to
co-operate with the Labor Party, the Manu-
facturers* Association, or any other organized
group on fair terms. There have been towns
and cities from time immemorial and there

178 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

probably always will be, and all history proves
that when kindly relations have existed between
town and country all has gone well. Un-
fortunately cities have usually assumed a
domineering attitude with painful results to
both. A shocking example of what a feud be-
tween town and country may lead to has been
seen during the last two years in Austria. Proud
and haughty Vienna is cordially hated by the
surrounding farmers, so much so that the farmers
will not even sell their produce to the city.
Thus, side by side, you have a well fed rural
population and a starving, dying city. Co-
operation should embrace both town and country.
Particularly is this true of small towns and
villages. Anyone who has lived for any number
of years in the country will remember that when
he came to town the merchant showed an amaz-
ing interest in weather conditions and the crops.
Why did he do this? Simply because he under-
stood very well that good crops meant more
money to spend and better business for himself.
He himself, with more money to spend, could
afford better support to town improvement and
public undertakings generally, so that every
town citizen benefited by his prosperity. Census
figures reveal the fact that nearly all towns and
villages, like the farms, are suffering for the
benefit of a few big cities. A typical example of

STOCK-TAKING 179

what is happening has received some notice in
the press just recently. This Httle town in
Lambton county, Ontario, during the last ten
years has lost one quarter of its population while
its municipal tax bill has multiplied five fold.
Not even civic improvements have been suffi-
cient to hold the citizens in competition with the
cities. So, it bears repeating, that the interests
of organized agriculture and the interests of
country towns are very closely bound up
together.

Here again there is striking evidence of the
dangers lurking in political action. Necessarily
the merchant and agent in the small town has a
close connection with the manufacturer and the
bank, and to a very great extent is dominated by
them. The farmer, goaded to complaint, strikes
out at the big man behind the scenes, and in his
fury anathematises everyone connected with
him, including his merchant and agent. Too
frequently, he does not stop to size up the situa-
tion and see how so many small business men,
against whom he is railing, are really drawn into
the same net as himself, and are little more than
tools in the hands of the men higher up.

On the other hand, the merchant and his town
neighbor have so far suffered from confusion of
thought. They have enjoyed a comfortable
existence and have kindly feelings toward the

180 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

big business man who places in their hands his
wares for sale. They resent the criticisms of
the farmers. This is the more natural because
of the different methods of action adopted by
the manufacturers and dealers on one hand, and
the farmers on the other. The former, through
years of development, have worked away in an
unobtrusive manner, pressing a claim upon
government here, setting up an arm of distribu-
tion there, putting a check on production in
another place, occasionally making a misstep
with consequent criticism, but always speaking
in the most plausible terms, and with the best
kind of word for everybody.

What of the farmer? He has spoken very
plainly. In unmistakable language he has
enunciated the principles for which he stands.
In equally emphatic words he has denounced
injustice, and over flagrant wrongs which have
come directly to his notice he has aroused storms
of public indignation. Far from moving quietly
and with soft words, his action has been out in
the open, at times spectacular. Since reformers
have seldom been popular in their day it is
small wonder that urban people have stood
aloof from these terrible farmers whom a servile
press denounce as disturbers of the peace. But
signs are not wanting that a change of attitude
is taking place, and that town and country are

STOCK-TAKING 181

coming to a better understanding of their com-
mon good. As soon as this undermines the
work of crafty poHticians who would set one
against the other, and the basic work of the
U.F.O. is perceived, full co-operation is inevit-
able. Just how that co-operation will work out
in practical organization is something of a
problem and need not concern us just now.
The first requisite is a better understanding, and
with good understanding a suitable method of
action is sure to grow up.

Some good people would run ahead of their
time and throw down the bars to all who would
enter the ranks of the U.F.O. Lack of caution in
this regard could result in nothing but disaster.
A U.F.O. including other classes would no longer
be a U.F.O., even though it be something
entirely good. Let no one forget the age in
which he lives, the Canadian Bankers' Associa-
tion, the Canadian Manufacturers' Association,
the Retail Grocers' Association, the Ontario
Medical Association, and a host of other
associations whose membership is limited to
those whose occupation is designated by the
title. These associations exist primarily for
the protection of their members and the advance-
ment of their interests. Even so does the
U.F.O., and just as the Medical Association
would cease to be a medical association if any

182 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

number of its members were farmers, so the
U.F.O. would cease to be a farmers' organization
with members who were doctors, lawyers, and
merchants. The name would lose all its signi-
ficance, and the organization would cease to
function in the manner intended by its founders,
viz. *'to advance the cause of agriculture in all
its branches." The organization, as such, must
be kept intact.

But that does not mean that as an organiza-
tion it must not or cannot act in harmony with
similar organizations of other occupations. It
must ultimately do this if peace and good-will
are ever to reign amongst men, but no one surely
has the hardihood to argue that peace and good-
will hold anything like sovereign sway yet.
Bitter class struggles have been waged in the
past, are going on now, and are likely to go on
for some time to come. Into this swirl of strife
the U.F.O. has been drawn, or perhaps it is more
accurate to say that out of the strife the U.F.O.
has evolved, through a mass of unsuccessful
contenders banding themselves together for
self preservation. These United Farmers in
their efforts are continually railed at as
knockers, preaching co-operation on the one
hand and deliberately making co-operation im-
possible on the other by attacking other classes.
"How," say these people, ''are we ever to have

STOCK-TAKING 183

peace if these farmers are bent on class orga-
nization?" Well, there are different qualities of
peace, and many treaties of peace have been
negotiated in the past, almost all of which
meant advantage to one party and suffering to
the other. One is reminded of the scriptural
quotation, ''Ye go about saying peace, peace,
when there is no peace." A simple illustration may
help us to think more clearly on this situation.

The writer remembers that in the days of his
attendance at public school there was a big boy
who had his own way in everything in the
school grounds during play hours. He was a
bully and ''lorded it" over the others, for no
one dared to touch him because of his superior
strength. But years went on and one day a
new thing happened. One of his inferiors in
strength had rapidly overtaken him in size and
this day the two were led into a "fisticuff" in
which the erstwhile champion got the worst of it.
The effect upon him was revolutionary. His
haughtiness disappeared; he had been forced to
respect another as his equal, and he instantly
manifested readiness to co-operate with his
playmates.

The picture needs little application. In point
of influence, agriculture has been down; it was
not respected. The farmer has been the sport
of cartoonists and politicians, the object of

184 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

contemptuous pity for a host of men who mea-
sure prosperity in terms of big cities and tall
chimneys. Under these circumstances how can
he co-operate? Obviously it cannot be done,
because neither he nor his rivals are in the
proper spirit. There must be mutual respect,
for the man that is down is in no position to
negotiate, and the man on top is not likely to
tolerate it. The U.F.O. is out to demand and
win respect for agriculture.

The story is told that more than a century
ago, when Napoleon was marching triumphantly
through Germany, a German general after a
crushing defeat gathered a few of his fugitive
followers about him to consider the misfortunes
of their land. He concluded his address to them
with an exhortation to the following effect, —
"Soldiers, we are in no position to offer further
military resistance, but we can go to our homes
and teach these Frenchman how to live." With
the determination to do this the Germans
plodded on through succeeding decades and
everyone knows with what success. From the
high position to which that determination
brought them they fell, but not until they
began adopting the spirit and tactics which in
Napoleon's day they denounced. Militarism
denounced gave them prosperity, militarism
espoused brought their downfall.

STOCK-TAKING 185

Let the United Farmers, leaders and followers,
learn this lesson well. Only by resolute, deter-
mined effort can they achieve success. Men
are forever grasping at the shadow and losing
the substance. The spectacular successes so
far gained in politics and business are mere
shadows, the substance is the change in the farm
home, the farmer and his family. On these
latter all else rests; on these all organization
and effort should focus. As sure as organization
and office become the chief end, just so surely
will the U.F.O. adopt the practices which it so
loudly denounces, and just so surely will those
practices destroy its usefulness. Therefore,
farmers, in the words of your constitution, to
the task of "endeavoring to suppress personal,
sectional, national, political, partisan and class
prejudices, and thereby to promote the best
interests of Canada as a whole."

13

LIST OF OFFICERS

FIRST OFFICERS OF THE DOMINION GRANGE AS
ORGANIZED IN LONDON, JUNE, 1874:

Master S. W. Hill Welland

Secretary T. W. Dyas London

Lecturer A. Gifford Meaford

FIRST OFFICERS OF THE FARMERS ASSOCIATION
FORMED IN TORONTO IN SEPTEMBER, 1902:

President C. A. Mallory

Sec.-Treas W. L. Smith

Directors: L. E. Annis, J. F. Beam, J. Lockie Wilson,
W. L. McLeod
Auditors: J. W. Hyatt, Wm. McCrea.

OFFICERS OF THE UNITED FARMERS OF ONTARIO

1914

President E. C. Drury Barrie

1st Vice-President G. A. Brethen Norwood

2nd Vice-President . . . R. H. Halbert Melancthon

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Arthur

Directors T. H. Adams Essex

J. F. Breen Melancthon

John Servius Warkworth

R. H. Johnson .Omemee

1915

President R. H. Halbert Melancthon

1st Vice-President A. J. Reynolds Solina

2nd Vice-President. . .B. C. Tucker Harold

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Arthur

Directors W. H. Hunter Varney

Gordon Salisbury Campbellford

E. A. Van Allen Aultsville

Peter Gardiner Corunna

R. H. Johnson Omemee

186

LIST OF OFFICERS 187

1916

President R. H. Halbert Melancthon

1st Vice-President A. J. Reynolds Solina

2nd Vice-President . . . W. C. Good Paris

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Arthur

Directors W. H. Hunter Varney

E. A. Van Allen Aultsville

E. C. Drury Barrie

J. Z. Frazer Burford

L. H. Blatchford Embro

1917

President R. H. Halbert Melancthon

1st Vice-President E. C. Drury Barrie

2nd Vice-President . . . W. C. Good Paris

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Toronto

Directors.' W. H. Hunter Varney

T. H. Adams Essex

S. S. Staples Ida

Peter Porter Burford

R. S. McTavish Balderson

J. N. Kernighan Goderich

1918

President R. H. Halbert Melancthon

Vice-President .E. C. Drury Barrie

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Toronto

Directors for this year and subsequently consisted of one director for
each Federal riding in Ontario.

1919

President R. W. E. Burnaby Jefferson

Vice-President W. A. Amos Palmerston

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Toronto

1920

President R. W. E. Burnaby Jefferson

Vice-President W. A. Amos Palmerston

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Toronto

OFFICERS OF FARMERS' PUBLISHING COMPANY

1918

President J. Z. Frazer Burford

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Arthur

Directors A. A. Powers Toronto

J. N. Kernighan Goderich

G. A. Brodie Newmarket

188 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

1919

President J. Z. Fraser Burford

Vice-President Manning Doherty Malton

Sec. -Treas J. J. Morrison Arthur

Directors W. C. Good Paris

A. A. Powers Toronto

1920

President J. Z. Eraser Burford

Vice-President W. A. Amos Palmerston

Sec.-Treas H. E. Walters Toronto

Directors Manning Doherty Malton

W. C. Good Paris

J. J. Morrison Arthur

OFFICERS OF UNITED FARM WOMEN OF ONTARIO

1919

President Mrs. G. A. Brodie Newmarket

Vice-President Mrs. J. N. Foote Collingwood

Secretary Miss Emma Griesbach Collingwood

Executive Directors. .Mrs. H. Wilson Georgetown

Mrs. Frank Webster. . Oakwood

The above were also the provisional officers and executive for 1918.

1920

President Mrs. G. A. Brodie Newmarket

Vice-President Mrs. J. N. Foote Collingwood

Secretary Mrs. H. L. Laws Cayuga

Executive Directors . . Mrs. Frank Webster Oakwood

Mrs. W. N. Glenn Centralia

Mrs. J. S. Amos Woodstock

Mrs. J. Alex. Wallace. . .Simcoe

1921

President Mrs. J. A. Wallace Simcoe

Vice-President Mrs. J. S. Amos Woodstock

Sec.-Treas Mrs. H. L. Laws Cayuga

Executive Directors . . Mrs. Frank Webster Oakwood

Mrs. W. N. Glenn Centralia

Mrs. H. S. Goltz Bardsville

Miss Agnes McPhail Ceylon

LIST OF OFFICERS 189

OFFICERS OF THE UNITED FARMERS CO-OPERATIVE
COMPANY

1914

President W. C. Good Paris

Vice-President Anson Groh Preston

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Arthur

Directors Jas. R. Anderson Mountainview

S. A. Beck So. Cayuga

E. C. Drury Barrie

C. W. GuRNEY Paris

J. Z. Frazer Burford

Jno. Pritchard Gorrie

C. F. Whittaker Williamsburg

A. E. Vance Forest

C. F. Rath Lansdowne

Geo. Carlaw Warkworth

A. A. Powers Orono

1915

President Anson Groh Preston

Vice-President A. A. Powers Orono

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Toronto

Directors A. E. Vance Forest

J. R. Anderson Mountainview

E. C. Drury. Barrie

C. F. Whittaker Williamsburg

Geo. Carlaw Warkworth

W. C. Good Paris

J. Z. Frazer Burford

Jno. Pritchard Gorrie

S. A. Beck So. Cayuga

C. W. Gurney Paris

L. ScHNURR Shallow Lake

1916

President Jno. Pritchard Gorrie

Vice-President C. W. Gurney Paris

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Toronto

Directors C. F. Whittaker Williamsburg

Geo. Carlaw Warkworth

A. A. Powers Orono

W. C. Good Paris

Anson Groh Preston

J. Z. Frazer Burford

S. A. Beck So. Cayuga

L. ScHNURR Shallow Lake

E. C. Drury Barrie

B. C. Tucker Harold

190 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

1917

President B. C. Tucker Harold

Vice-President Elmer Lick Oshawa

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Toronto

Directors E. C. Drury Barrie

L. ScHNURR Shallow Lake

W. C. Good Paris

A. A. Powers Orono

R. H. Halbert Melancthon

Wm. McCrea Guelph

A. E. Van Allen Aultsville

1918

President R. W. E. Burnaby Jefferson

Vice-President A. A. Powers Orono

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Toronto

Directors R. H. Halbert Melancthon

Elmer Lick Oshawa

E. A. Van Allen Aultsville

E. C. Drury Barrie

C. W. Gurney Paris

B. C. Tucker Harold

Wm. McCrea Guelph

1919

President R. W. E. Burnaby Jefferson

Vice-President A. A. Powers Orono

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Toronto

Directors R. H. Halbert Melancthon

Manning Doherty Malton

E. A. Van Allen Aultsville

R. J. McMillan Seaforth

Elmer Lick Oshawa

B. C. Tucker Harold

E. C. Drury Barrie

1920

President A. A. Powers Orono

Vice-President Elmer Lick Oshawa

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Toronto

Directors A. E. Van Allen Aultsville

R. J. McMillan Seaforth

J. Z. Frazer Burford

H. V. Hoover Harold

Arthur Craise St. Catharines

W. C. Good Paris

R. W. E. Burnaby Jefferson

LIST OF OFFICERS 191

1921

President A. A. Powers Orono

Vice-President Col. J. Z. Frazer Burford

Sec.-Treas J. J. Morrison Toronto

Directors R. W. E. Burnaby Jefferson

R. J. McMillan Seaforth

H. V. Hoover Harold

A. E. Van Allen Aultsville

Elmer Lick Oshawa

J. B. Levert Warren

R. H. AsHTON Morrisburg

APPENDIX

THE REQUEST
^. (Hansard, p. 1912.)

Russell Theatre, Ottawa,
May 14th, 1918.

The Hon. E. N. Rhodes,

Speaker of the House of Commons.

Sir,—

On behalf of several thousand Ontario farmers I beg to transmit
to you the following resolution just passed, and to say that,
encouraged by the reception recently accorded the President
of the American Federation of Labour, we are confident the request
will be granted.

"That this meeting instructs the chairman respectfully to
ask the House of Commons to receive him, and two delegates he
shall name, at the sitting of the House this afternoon, to hear
their address upon 'the situation in the country, and asking that
democracy be honoured in the prosecution of the war, and all
other matters of government."

The messenger who brings this will respectfully await an answer.

(Signed) R. H. Halbert,

Chairman.

■^' THE REFUSAL

(Hansard, p. 1937.)

Sir Robert Borden: Under the circumstances, I do not feel
that the House ought to interrupt its proceedings for the purpose
referred to. If these gentlemen would like, between the hours of
six and eight o'clock, to address any members of the House who
would wish to be present to hear them, there is not the slightest
objection to it.

192

APPENDIX 193

THE REMONSTRANCE*

(Hansard, p. 2551.)

*The document is printed as prepared. The event proved that
there was nothing to thank the House for.

To the Honourable the Speaker

and Members of the House of Commons
of Canada, in Parliament assembled.

Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Commons: —

"On behalf of thousands of farmers assembled in this city
to-day, we warmly thank the House for the proof it has given
that it desires to keep in sympathetic touch with the citizens from
whom it derives its dignity and authority. We believe we express
the sentiments of all thoughtful citizens when we say that this depar-
ture in Canadian Parliamentary practice, following so closely upon
the speech to this House and the Senate, of the President of the
American Federation of Labour, is an agreeable recognition of the
new relationships which the war is producing, as between those who
govern and those who are governed by consent.

"The portion of Canadian labour which is so vital to the pro-
secution of the war, and which we represent, appreciates to the full
the evidence of loyalty which the House of Commons gave in August,
1914, to the democracies of the western hemisphere in its instant
support of the Motherland in her hour of need. We trust that the
spontaneous action then taken will be justified by a continuation of
those habits of freedom which it has long been the particular privilege
of Canadians to maintain. These privileges are all the more
appreciated in view of the long struggle for responsible government
which was undertaken against the opposition of those who exercised
arbitrary authority, and who feared the free expression of opinion,
in the press and by the spoken word.

"We are sure the House will permit us to say also, that the
citizens generally have observed with gratitude that the House
has shown a larger independence of thought and speech than
has been customary under the system of partisan government.
We should fail in the duty of being candid which is cast upon
us by the readiness of the House to hear us, if we did not point
out a tendency that has been observed in the House, where the
public will is believed to be supreme. The increasing frankness of
discussion so noticeable here, has been accompanied by a tendency
to silence on the part of members of the Cabinet, who in reality are,
as one of your distinguished members has said, 'Only a Committee
of this House.'

"The unrest in the country which has brought about the un-
exampled spectacle of thousands of farmers leaving the important
work of planting their crops, to come to the capital to remonstrate
with the Government, is known to every member of the House of

194 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

Commons. We beg leave to intimate that this unrest is not related
merely to the special matter which was discussed with the Premier
and members of his Cabinet to-day.

"We cannot disguise from the House an apprehension that the
liberties, of which the popularly elected branch of the Legislature
is the bulwark, may be dangerously curtailed during the period that
the House is not sitting. In proof that this dread is not illusory, we
would venture to inform the House that, in common with our fellow-
citizens, here and throughout the country, we have observed certain
innovations, the continuation of which, we believe, would be
fraught with serious results to the confidence which the subjects of
His Majesty have hitherto reposed in the working of that responsible
government for whose unimpaired preservation forty thousand
Canadian soldiers have laid down their lives.

"Will the House permit us to speak more plainly what is in
our minds? We have never believed that the conditions produced
by the war demanded flagrant departures from the honoured pro-
cesses of the law enjoined by the Constitution, while Parliament is in
session or is near assembling. We believe that reliance upon Parlia-
ment, instead of upon arbitrary authority, most effectively honours
the guarantees of freedom which are embedded in the Constitution.
One considerable departure from sound practice may be accepted,
but repetitions of it may be exceedingly dangerous, especially under
such circumstances as now beset the State.

"We, therefore, beg leave to remind the House of several instances
in which, it seems to us, the liberties of the people, and of their
representatives, have not been given sufficient consideration.

"Twelve days before the meeting of Parliament in January,
1916, the authorized Canadian Army was doubled from 250,000
to 500,000 men. No British Army had ever been doubled without
recourse to Parliament. That it was done in Canada caused students
of British history to enquire whether anything had occurred to
warrant such a disregard of Parliament.

"Though this House of Commons has inherited some of the
consequences of such an innovation, we desire to confine our
respectful remonstrances to more recent events.

"During this session there were riots in the City of Quebec.
The House desired to discuss the serious situation thus created,
and was entitled to declare what measures might be taken to pre-
vent a renewal of such unhappy occurrences. It did not escape the
notice of the country that, immediately before the House proceeded
to discharge its duty, there was put upon the table a completed
law, in the form of an Order-in-Council, which arbitrarily took out
of its control the very question which the House of Commons was
about to discuss.

"Later, there were other departures from the traditional practice
of British law, by equally astonishing proceedings. An Order-in-
Council was given to the House, as a matter of information, providing
for the registration of the human power of the country, and setting
up an entirely new criminal code in connection therewith, by creating

APPENDIX 195

several methods of punishment hitherto unknown to Canadian
civilization. Surely such a departure should not have been attempt-
ed in such a manner. Punishments created without the assent of
Parliament naturally tend to provoke hostility. We feel we are
performing a national duty in respectfully calling attention to such
conditions.

"The Order-in-Council, endorsed by both Houses on April
18th, virtually sweeps away the Military Service Act. The
resentment it has created is known to this House, members of
which are known to regret that the elements of the Constitution
were ignored in this proceeding; and that the method of presenting a
practically executed decree, while withholding disclosure of the facts
on which it was based, cannot easily be justified to the constituents of
a newly-elected Parliament.

"The curtailment of the liberty of written and spoken speech,
contained in the Order-in-Council, given to the public on April
16th, has caused especial concern to all who are aware of the history
of free discussion in Canada and other parts of the British Empire.
We are sure we need not beg the House to examine its provisions,
in order to appreciate how a doctrine of the essential infallibility of
the Government may be forced upon a free people, on pain of a fine
of five thousand dollars and five years' imprisonment.

"The House, to our extrenie regret, has been faced with a
notification of the intended curtailment of the privilege of a member
of Parliament to declare his mind, and the right of his constituents to
know what he has uttered. That this unique warning to a freely-
elected British assembly was halted for several weeks on the order
paper, we venture respectfully to attribute to you, Mr. Speaker, as
the appointed guardian of the liberties of the House, and also of the
people. It has been noted that the Prime Minister, in withdrawing
the measure, viewed with so much apprehension from outside the
House, announced that it is likely to be re-introduced next session.

"Perhaps the House may not be offended to learn that cog-
nizance has also been taken of a notice issued to it, within the last
week, to the effect that it must curtail its discussion of vital national
affairs, and withdraw from its precincts within a few days, or be
summoned hither during the hottest and most inconvenient month
of the year. That such a direction should be issued without re-
course to the judgment of the House causes reflective citizens to
wonder what has happened to the freedom Canadian institutions
have hitherto enjoyed.

"Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Commons, —
The disquiet of the country, of which we are the humble and
inadequate exponents, and which demonstrates sadly the increasing
dangers to our national unity, which, if we lose it, we shall have
lost all indeed, cannot be allayed by a persistence in the courses we
have so imperfectly sketched.

"Will the House permit us, with much deference, but much
earnestness, also, to repeat the reminder of one of its members,
that the Government is a Committee of the House vested with the

196 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O.

executive powers of Parliament? The responsibility of government,
therefore, is ultimately upon this House. Nothing appears to have
been done to make the position of members of Parliament, with
regard to the carrying out of the war policy, correspond to the
status which they enjoyed before the practice crept in of making
them subservient to those whom they created, and whom they may
destroy.

"In this prolonged crisis of the national fate, the hour has arrived
to re-establish the inherent freedom of the House of Commons.
We are certain that in that restoration the people of Canada will
sustain you, and that the sacrifices of war will be justified and
honoured in the blessings and progress of peace."

A LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY

(Hansard, p. 2550.)

Windsor Hotel, Ottawa,

May 25th, 1918.

His Excellency the Duke of Devonshire,
Governor-General of Canada.

"Your Excellency: —

"The undersigned, in exercising the immemorial privilege of
British subjects, are confident that Your Excellency will honour
the ancient practice of the highest authority of the realm, of hearing
sympathetically the representations of citizens upon matters affect-
ing the good government of Canada.

"We are encouraged to transmit to you certain information,
by the knowledge that those who have preceded you as a repre-
sentative of the Crown in the working of responsible Government
in Canada, have been swift to regard any endeavours to depart
from the constitutional usages by which the freedom of Parliament,
and, of the individual citizen,, has been established.

"Since Your Excellency's arrival among us, we have had every
reason to be assured that Your Excellency is imbued with the
conciliatory, far-seeing and statesmanlike spirit which animated
Lord Elgin, to whom Canada and the Empire will ever be indebted
for a wise and courageous guidance within the powers confided to
him.

"We believe, therefore, that you will welcome this expression of
our trust during the period of unprecedented difficulty through
which the Dominion of Canada is passing.

"It is in harmony with Lord Elgin's reply to an address from the
County of Glengarry, dealing with the unrest at that time, regarding
the administration of public affairs, that we submit for Your Excel-
lency's consideration the attached correspondence with the Speaker

APPENDIX 197

of the House of Commons. Perhaps Your Excellency will allow us
to repeat what Lord Elgin said to the men of Glengarry, in reply to
their address: 'I recognize in it evidence of that vigorous under-
standing which enables men of the stock to which you belong, to
prize, as they ought to be prized, the blessings of well-ordered free-
dom, and of that keen sense of principle which prompts them to
recoil from no sacrifice which duty enjoins.'

"Your Excellency will observe that those citizens whom we
represent, are striving to ensure the continuance of what Lord
Elgin described as 'well-ordered freedom.'

"We do not ask that Your Excellency will take action out-
side the lines of constitutional practice. At present we desire
only to keep you informed of the increasing difficulties which appear
to affect injuriously the privileges which belong to the citizens
through the House of Commons.

"We beg to state to Your Excellency that we are aware that
certain objections in connection with prescribed forms of approach
may be cited against the course we have taken. But we are also
well assured that in times like these, it is good counsel rather than
appeals to form which should prevail.

"We beg respectfully to add that, in conveying with all con-
venient speed to those who have authorized us to act, the informa-
tion of our reliance upon Your Excellency's beneficient intentions to
all the loyal people of Canada, we are rendering a service to the
unquestionable stability of Parliamentary freedom which all
British citizens must desire to be maintained at home while it is being
defended abroad."

(Signed) C. W. Gurney,

J. N. KeRnighan.

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