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HD l09.C2C5 e " Universi,yLibrar >' 
 
 ALBERT R. MANN 
 LIBRARY 
 
 New York State Colleges 
 
 of 
 
 Agriculture and Home Economics 
 
 Cornell University 
 
awa 
 
The Canadian 
 Council of Agriculture 
 
 OFFICERS AND MEMBERS 1910-11 
 
 D. W. McCUAIG, President Winnipeg 
 
 JAMES BOWER, Vice-President Red Deer, Alta. 
 
 E. C. DRURY, Secretary-Treasurer Barrie, Ontario 
 
 REPRESENTATIVES 
 
 DOMINION GRANGE OF ONTARIO 
 
 N. E. Burton, Master Port Stanley, Ont. 
 
 E. C. Dkury, Overseer Rural Mail, Barrie, Ont. 
 
 J. J. Morrison, Secretary Arthur, Ont. 
 
 R. E. Gunn r Beaverton, Ont. 
 
 James McEwing, M.P.P > Drayton, Ont. 
 
 W. L. Smith Toronto, Ont. 
 
 J. G. Lethbridge .Alliance, Ont. 
 
 MANITOBA GRAIN GROWERS' 
 ASSOCIATION 
 
 R. C. Henders, President Culross, Man. 
 
 J. S. Wood, Vice-President Oakville, Man. 
 
 R. McKenzie, Secretary Winnipeg, Man. 
 
 Peter Wright Myrtle, Man.' 
 
 R. J. Avison Gilbert Plains, Man. 
 
 SASKATCHEWAN GRAIN GROWERS' 
 ASSOCIATION 
 
 E. N. Hopkins, Hon. President Moose Jaw, Sask. 
 
 F. M. Gates, President Fillmore, Sask. 
 
 J. A. Murray, Vice-President Wapella, Sask. 
 
 F. W. Green, Secretary Moose Jaw, Sask. 
 
 E. A. Partridge Sintaluta, Sask. 
 
 J. A. Mahahg Moose Jaw, Sask. 
 
 UNITED FARMERS OF ALBERTA 
 
 James Bower, President Red Deer, Alta. 
 
 W. J. Tregillus, Vice-President Calgary, Alta. 
 
 E. J. Fream, Secretary Innisfail, Alta. 
 
 James Speakman Penhold, Alta. 
 
 D. W. Warner. Edmonton, Alta. 
 
THE SIEGE OF OTTAWA 
 
 Being the story of the 800 farmers from Ontario, 
 Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, 
 Saskatchewan and Alberta, who met the government 
 and members of parliament in the House of 
 Commons Chamber on December 16, 1910, and 
 demanded more equitable legislation. The Ottawa 
 Delegation was called together under the auspices 
 of the Canadian Council of Agriculture, the great 
 Dominion- wide farmers' organization recently con- 
 summated. The farmers asked for no special 
 privileges, but only that other interests be prevented 
 from levying tribute upon them. 
 
 Edited by G. F. CH1PMAN 
 
 Contents 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction 
 
 3 
 
 The Farmers' Platform 
 
 4-5 
 
 The Farmers' Delegation 
 
 6-10 
 
 Some Tariff Speeches 
 
 11-22 
 
 Farmers' Memorials - 
 
 23-38 
 
 Chilled Meat Question - 
 
 38-40 
 
 Hudson's Bay Railway 
 
 41-42 
 
 Amendments to Railway Act 
 
 43-46 
 
 Co-operative Legislation 
 
 47-48 
 
 The Bank Act 
 
 48 
 
 The Tariff 
 
 48-63 
 
 Sir Wilfrid's Reply 
 
 63-66 
 
 The Canadian Council of Agriculture 
 
 67-68 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE GRAIN GROWERS' GUIDE, WINNIPEG 
 
FREE TRADE 
 
 HELPS MANUFACTURERS 
 
 Quite recently in response to a request from the Grain Growers' 
 Guide, a number of the largest manufacturers in Great Britain 
 explained why they were Free Traders. The following are extracts 
 from letters of the British manufacturers: — 
 
 WILLIAM ANDERSON, LIMITED, GLASGOW, (COTTON AND 
 WOOL MANUFACTURER)-— "We exploit the whole world for raw 
 material and lay the whole world under tribute for food stuffs. We are 
 absolutely free from the handicap of protection in any shape, form or 
 fashion. Our machinery is laid down, our factory buildings are 
 erected, at a less cost than any other country. We never make 
 anything, we can buy cheaper. * * * * I see no other result of the 
 restriction of free imports than loss and ruin, and I am not yet tired 
 of carrying on a profitable business." 
 
 GEO. WOLSTENHOLM & SONS, LTD., SHEFFD3LD, (CUT- 
 LERY MANUFACTURERS)— "This company is able to charge low 
 prices for the quality of goods which they supply because they can 
 purchase their raw material from the cheapest market in the world, 
 wherein no tariff impost makes such material dear, and can obtain 
 labor at comparatively low rates because their workmen can live well 
 and at comparatively small cost." /"^ S *> ^T~^> ^? <=~"* 
 
 WM. SMALE, MACCLESFD3LD, (SILK MANUFACTURER)— 
 "I am a free trader because under the system of free trade we have 
 cheap food and raw material, etc., which enables us to manufacture 
 cheaper than our foreign competitors and thus compete successfully 
 in neutral markets." 
 
 JOHN LECKIE & COMPANY, (LONDON SADDLERY WORKS) 
 —"The reason why France, Germany and United States cannot compete 
 against us on level terms is that these countries are so handicapped 
 in the purchase of their materials by import duties." 
 
 F. SCARF, WEST BROMWICH, (BROMFORD DJON WORKS) 
 —"I am a free trader because buying freely abroad, I can sell freely 
 abroad— the one stream creates the other. I fear the tariff because 
 I should be at the mercy of legislation, and should be forced to take 
 a hand in political bargaining and intrigue." 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 When Sir Wilfrid Laurier visited the Prairie Provinces" 
 last summer he was met at every point by the organized 
 farmers, who demanded tariff reduction. Shortly afterwards 
 the Toronto Sun, the organ of the Ontario farmers, suggested 
 the advisability of sending a large delegation of farmers 
 from all Canada to Ottawa to lay their case before Parlia- 
 ment. The suggestion was endorsed by the Grain Growers' 
 Guide, the organ of the Western farmers. Other journals also 
 advocated the same move, and it rapidly found favor 
 throughout all Canada. No movement of the same nature 
 and magnitude was ever before seen in Canada. It is to 
 have a permanent record of the work of this great delegation 
 and the memorials it presented to the government that this 
 booklet is published.. Never before have the farmers taken 
 a firm and united stand for economic justice. The spread 
 of knowledge, however, is awakening the people of Canada 
 to the injustice of the system now prevailing. It will be a 
 great satisfaction to the farmers to know that their demands 
 have been partially granted in the reciprocity arrangements 
 that have been made with the United States. Natural 
 products have been placed upon the free list, but there has 
 been little reduction in the duty on agricultural implements. 
 The farmers demanded free trade in agricultural machinery 
 and also a substantial increase in the British Preference. 
 There is only one way to secure the demands made at Ottawa. 
 That is by strengthening the organization and convincing 
 every man of the justice of those demands. The farmers of 
 Canada have unfurled the flag of freedom and, backed by 
 a knowledge of the justice of their claims, their cause is 
 certain of ultimate triumph. 
 
 Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1910. G.F.C. 
 
The Farmers' Platform 
 
 The following are the resolutions presented to the Government 
 
 on December the Sixteenth, 1910, by the 
 
 Canadian Council of Agriculture 
 
 T H v. TABIFF 
 
 The tariff demands of the organized 
 farmers of Canada made to Sir Wilfrid 
 Laurier were in the following words: 
 
 "This delegation, representative of 
 the agricultural interests of Canada, de- 
 sire to approach yon upon the question 
 of the bearing of the Canadian customs 
 tariff. 
 
 "We come, asking no favors at your 
 hands. We bear with us no feeling of 
 antipathy towards any other line of 
 industrial life. We welcome within the 
 limits of Canada's broad domain every 
 legitimate form of industrial enterprise, 
 but in view of the fact that the further 
 progress and development of the agri- 
 cultural industry is of such vital im- 
 portance to the general welfare of the 
 state that all other Canadian industries 
 are so dependent upon its success, that 
 its constant condition forms the great 
 barometer of trade, we consider its 
 operations should no longer be hampered 
 by tariff restrictions. 
 
 "And in view of the favorable 
 approaches already made through Presi- 
 dent Taft and the American Govern- 
 ment looking towards more friendly 
 trade relations between Canada and the 
 United States this memorial takes form 
 as follows: 
 
 "1. That we strongly favor recip- 
 rocal Free Trade between Canada and 
 the United States in all horticultural, 
 agricultural and animal products, spray- 
 ing materials, fertilizers, illuminating, 
 fuel and lubricating oils, cement, fish 
 and lumber. 
 
 "2. Reciprocal free trade between 
 the two countries in all agricultural im- 
 plements, machinery, vehicles and parts 
 of each of these; and, in the event of a 
 favorable arrangement being reached, 
 it be carried into effect through the inde- 
 pendent action of the respective govern- 
 ments, rather than by the hard and fast 
 requirements of a treaty. 
 
 "3. We also favor the principle of 
 the British preferential tariff, and urge 
 an immediate lowering of the duties on 
 
 all British goods to one-half the rates 
 charged under the general tariff sched- 
 ule, whatever that may be; and that 
 any trade advantages given the United 
 States in reciprocal trade relations be 
 extended to Great Britain. 
 
 ' '4. For such further gradual reduc- 
 tion of the remaining preferential tariff 
 as will ensure the establishment of com- 
 plete free trade between Canada and 
 the Mother land within ten years. 
 
 ' '5. That the farmers of this country 
 are willing to face direct taxation in 
 such form as may be advisable to make 
 up the revenue required under new 
 tariff conditions. 
 
 "Believing that the greatest misfor- 
 tune which can befall any country is 
 to have its people huddled together in 
 great centres of population, and that 
 the bearing of the present customs tariff 
 has the tendency to encourage that con- 
 dition, and realizing also that in view 
 of the constant movement of our people 
 away from the farms, the greatest 
 problem which presents itself to Cana- 
 dian people today is the problem of 
 retaining our people on the soil, we come 
 doubly assured of the justice of our 
 petition. 
 
 "Trusting this memorial may meet 
 your favorable consideration, and that 
 the substance of its prayer be granted 
 with all reasonable despatch." 
 
 On behalf of the Canadian Council 
 of Agriculture. 
 
 (Sgd.) D. W. McCUAIG, Pres. 
 (Sgd.) E. C. DBUBT, Secretary. 
 
 The other resolutions presented to the 
 government were as follows: 
 
 HUDSON'S BAT BAH.WAY 
 
 "Whereas, the necessity of the Hud- 
 son's Bay railway as the natural and 
 the most economic outlet for placing the 
 products of the Western prairies on the 
 European market has been emphasized 
 by the Western people for the past 
 generation; 
 
"And whereas, the Dominion govern- 
 ment has recognized the need and im- 
 portance of the Hudson's Bay railway 
 and has pledged itself to its immediate 
 construction, and has provided the 
 necessary funds entirely from the sale 
 of Western lands; 
 
 "And whereas, the chief benefit to 
 be derived from the Hudson's Bay rail- 
 way will be a reduction in freight rates 
 in Western Canada, due to actual com- 
 petition, which could be secured only 
 through government ownership and 
 operation of the Hudson's Bay railway; 
 
 ' 'And whereas, anything short of ab- 
 solute public ownership and operation 
 of the Hudson's Bay railway will defeat 
 the purpose for which the road was 
 advocated, and without which it would 
 be in the interests of Western Canada 
 that the building of the road should be 
 deferred; 
 
 "Therefore, be it resolved that it is 
 the opinion of this convention that the 
 Hudson's Bay railway and all terminal 
 facilities connected therewith should be 
 constructed, owned and operated in per- 
 petuity by the Dominion government 
 under an independent commission." 
 
 TERMINAL ELEVATORS 
 
 "Whereas, we are convinced that 
 terminal elevators as now operated are 
 detrimental to the interests of both the 
 producer and consumer, as proved by 
 recent investigation and testimony of 
 important interested bodies, we there- 
 fore request that the Dominion govern- 
 ment acquire and operate as a public 
 utility under an independent commis- 
 sion the terminal elevators of Fort Wil- 
 liam and Port Arthur, and immediately 
 establish similar terminal facilities and 
 conditions at the Pacific Coast, and 
 provide the same at Hudson's Bay when 
 necessary; also such transfer and other 
 elevators necessary to safeguard the 
 quality of export grain." 
 
 THE BANE ACT 
 
 "Whereas, it is generally believed 
 that the Bank act, forming, as it does, 
 the charter of all Canadian banks for 
 a ten year term, by its present phras- 
 ing prevents any amendment involving 
 curtailment of their powers enjoyed by 
 virtue of the provisions of such charter, 
 
 be it resolved: That this Ottawa con- 
 vention of delegates desire that the new 
 Bank act be so worded as to permit 
 the act to be amended at any time and 
 in any particular." 
 
 CO-OPERATIVE LEGISLATION 
 
 "Resolved, that in the opinion of this 
 convention it is desirable that cheap and 
 efficient machinery for the incorpora- 
 tion of co-operative societies should be 
 provided by Federal legislation during 
 the present session of parliament." 
 
 CHILLED MEAT INDUSTRY 
 
 "The government be urgently re- 
 quested to erect the necessary works 
 and operate a modern and up-to-date 
 method of exporting our meat animals. 
 
 "We suggest that a system owned 
 and operated by the government as a 
 public utility or a system of co-operation 
 by the producers througii the govern- 
 ment, in which the government would 
 supply the funds necessary to first instal 
 the system and provide for the gradual 
 repayment of these funds and interest 
 by a charge on the product passing 
 through the system, would give the re- 
 lief needed, and make Canada one of 
 the most prosperous meat producing 
 countries in the world." 
 
 THE RAILWAY CASE 
 
 The organized farmers asked that the 
 Railway act be amended so that the 
 railway companies be compelled to bear 
 a fair share of the responsibility for 
 killing stock, and also: 
 
 "1. That the principle of fixing the 
 tariffs in accordance with the compe- 
 tition of other roads or the density of 
 traffic or volume of business handled be 
 disallowed. 
 
 "2. That a true physical valuation 
 be taken of all railways operating in 
 Canada, this valuation to be used as a 
 basis of fixing the rates,, and the infor- 
 mation to be available to the public. 
 
 "3. That the Board of Railway 
 Commissioners be given complete juris- 
 diction in these matters as well as in 
 all other matters of dispute between the 
 railways and the people, and to enable 
 them to do this that the law be more 
 clearly defined." 
 
The Farmers' Delegation 
 
 What They Represented; 
 Where They Came From and 
 What They Did. 
 
 The largest delegation of farmers that 
 •ever appeared at Ottawa assembled in 
 the Capital City on December 15, 1910. 
 There were present 300 delegates from 
 Ontario, representing the Dominion 
 Grange, various fruit growers', breed- 
 ers', dairymen's, and stockmen's or- 
 ganizations. There were 500 delegates 
 from the Western Provinces, represent- 
 ing the Manitoba Grain Growers' Asso- 
 ciation, the Saskatchewan Grain Grow- 
 ers' Association and the United Farm- 
 ers of Alberta. There were two dele- 
 gates representing the Nova Scotia 
 Fruit Growers ' Association, two repre- 
 sentatives from the New Brunswick 
 Farmers' Association and seven indi- 
 vidual farmers from the province of 
 'Quebec The idea of sending a large 
 delegation of farmers to Ottawa from 
 -all over Canada originated in Ontario 
 and was quickly taken up by the West- 
 ern Provinces. Ontario had a larger 
 representation in the delegation than 
 -any other province. The annual meet- 
 ing of the Dominion Grange was held 
 in Toronto on December 13-14 and the 
 delegates from the organization went 
 directly to Ottawa where they were 
 joined by the delegates from other 
 jxarts of the province. The delegates 
 from Western Canada went to Ottawa 
 "by special train. It was impossible for 
 the Ontario delegates to make use of a 
 special train from the fact that they 
 came from so many different directions. 
 
 On the Special Train 
 
 There was something unique in the 
 :faet that the majority of the farmers' 
 •delegates from Western Canada made 
 the trip to Ottawa on a special train 
 provided by the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
 way. It is the first time in Canada that 
 a special train was run to such a dis- 
 tance to carry a delegation of farmers. 
 The special pulled out of the C.P.E. de- 
 pot at Winnipeg at 11.30 on the night 
 of December 12, immediately after the 
 close of the banquet given to the dele- 
 gates by citizens of Winnipeg. The 
 two days en route to Ottawa were full 
 of incident and interest. There were 
 three hundred and twenty-eight passen- 
 gers on board the train, and with the 
 exception of about fifteen ladies, these 
 
 were all delegates. It was estimated 
 that at least seventy-five delegates who 
 had purchased tickets by the C.N.B. 
 had been compelled to go to Ottawa via 
 Chicago and also that a greater num- 
 ber had preceded the special train to 
 Ottawa, so that the total delegation 
 from the West would be about five hun- 
 dred. 
 
 A Business Trip 
 
 Immediately after breakfast, on the 
 first morning out of Winnipeg, business 
 began. The executive officers from the 
 three provinces were all in the rear car 
 which had been specially reserved for 
 them in order that they might hold 
 business meetings. These meetings were 
 conducted continuously until a few 
 hours before the train reached Ottawa. 
 All the various subjects to ho taken up 
 with the government were discussed by 
 the executive committee and the entire 
 Western case prepared. So that the 
 West was ready to meet the East be- 
 fore the train reached Ottawa. 
 
 Car Meetings 
 
 Throughout the thirteen cars of the 
 train meetings were held all day long. 
 The farmers of the three provinces 
 were given a splendid opportunity to 
 become mutually acquainted and by so 
 doing to realize that there was no dif- 
 ference of opinion among the farm- 
 ers of the prairie. After meals the 
 dining cars were cleared, and as they 
 would accommodate one hundred men, 
 meetings were held addressed by some 
 of the orators on board — and there 
 were plenty of them. On Wednesday 
 afternoon when the various resolutions 
 to present to the government had been 
 adopted by the exeeutive committee 
 they were sent forward throughout the 
 whole train and approved of by the 
 delegates. 
 
 The delegation greatly appreciated 
 the splendid service provided for them 
 by- the C.P.E. on the train. Nothing 
 was left undone to make the trip to 
 Ottawa as comfortable and pleasant as 
 possible, and whatever the delegates 
 might have thought in Tegard to the 
 action of the C.P.E. at other times, 
 nothing but praise was heard of the 
 
manner in which they watched the in- 
 terests of the passengers on that spe- 
 cial train. 
 
 The Winnipeg Free Press and the 
 C.P.R. Telegraph Co. combined to sup- 
 ply a special news service to the train, 
 so that the passengers were all in close 
 touch with the outside world during 
 the whole trip. 
 
 A False Beport 
 
 On Wednesday afternoon a rumor 
 was circulated that the government 
 had just closed a deal with Mackenzie 
 & Mann by which the Hudson's Bay 
 Railway was to be banded over to those 
 two enterprising gentlemen. The slum- 
 bering indignation on board that train 
 blazed into a white heat, and the tenor 
 of the remarks made would not be 
 soothing either to Mackenzie & Mann 
 or the government. Fortunately the 
 rumor was proved to be without foun- 
 dation, as far as could be learned. 
 Shortly before reaching Ottawa a tele- 
 graphic dispatch reached the train from 
 E. C. Drury, Master of the Dominion 
 Grange. It contained the tariff reso- 
 lution passed at the annual meeting of 
 the Dominion Grange at Toronto. It 
 was immediately discussed by the ex- 
 ecutive committee, and > it was found 
 that the East and the West were one. 
 
 There were newspaper men aboard 
 the special from the time it left Winni- 
 peg till the time it reached Ottawa, and 
 special representatives of the Ottawa, 
 New York and Montreal papers boarded 
 the train east of North Bay at various 
 points. The whole world was watching 
 the progress of that special train from 
 the West, and was anxious to know 
 the feelings in the breasts of these 
 three hundred farmers. Column after 
 column of special dispatehes and cable 
 messages were sent out to hundreds of 
 newspapers by the correspondents on 
 the train. For the first time in history 
 Canadian farmers were in the limelight 
 of the world and the subject of discus- 
 sion throughout the whole of Canada. 
 As an advertisement nothing conld be 
 more successful than their trip to 
 Ottawa. 
 
 One hundred miles west of Ottawa 
 eight of the Conservative members of 
 the House of Commons boarded the 
 train and rode into Ottawa with the 
 delegates. 
 
 The Farmers In Ottawa 
 
 From the time the five hundred 
 farmer delegates from the West and 
 the three hundred farmer delegates 
 from the East reached Ottawa, the eapi- 
 
 ±ol /»?+«r KalnTirrArl tn t.hfiTTl- A great 
 
 deal of curiosity was aroused in East- 
 ern minds as to what appearance the 
 Westerners would present. The ma- 
 jority of the East still expected to see 
 a "wild and woolly" gathering armed 
 with all sorts of shooting irons and 
 ready to fight at a moment 's notice. 
 They were surprised to find that the 
 Western farmers talked, acted, thought, 
 ate, looked and paid very much in the 
 same manner that any other man would 
 do. The East were sorry that there was 
 nothing "wild and woolly" in the West. 
 The term "sod busters" was a new one 
 used by Easterners to describe the 
 Westerners and seemed quite appro- 
 priate. The officers of the delegations 
 from the East and the West stopped at 
 the Russell House and the Windsor ho- 
 tel and held their committee meetings 
 at the Russell House. No time was lost 
 in formalities. The farmers were there 
 for business and realized that every 
 minute would be needed. They met for 
 an hour and prepared the joint tariff 
 resolution for Canada, before the meet- 
 ing of the great convention in the 
 Grand Opera house at ten o'clock 
 Thursday morning, December 15. The 
 Mayor of Ottawa was present and in a 
 three minute speech he welcomed the 
 farmers to the National Capital. Presi- 
 dent McCuaig made a happy reply to 
 the mayor. The officers of the Canadian 
 Council of Agriculture occupied seats 
 on the stage, while the delegates filled 
 the body of the theatre and overflowed 
 in the gallery. Of all the vast number 
 of delegates from the Atlantic to the 
 Rockies there was not one man who 
 was not in accord with the resolutions 
 passed at the convention and presented 
 to the government. Every farmer 
 seemed at last thoroughly awake to the 
 fact that he was carrying en his shoul- 
 ders burdens imposed by federal legis- 
 lation. 
 
 The Convention 
 
 There were present at the convention 
 about eight hundred delegates, of 
 whom five hundred were from Western 
 Canada, three hundred from Ontario, 
 seven from Quebec, two from New 
 Brunswick and two from Nova Scotia. 
 The utmost unanimity of feeling 
 marked the proceedings of the great 
 convention held in the Grand opera 
 house on December 15. Those delegates 
 from the West who thought that their 
 views on the tariff might be somewhat 
 in advance of the views held by the 
 Eastern farmers were most agreeably 
 surprised to find that there was the 
 same feeling fowards the tariff in the 
 East as in the West. The tariff resolu- 
 
tiou was passed without a dissenting, 
 voice by the great convention. There 
 were speakers from every province in 
 favor of it, and then the meeting was 
 thrown open in order that any persons 
 opposing the resolution might be heard. 
 But no person could be found in all 
 the vast meeting who had one single 
 word of protest against the resolution. 
 The other resolutions were also passed 
 unanimously. Never was the business 
 of any convention conducted with more 
 dispatch or in a more businesslike way. 
 There was only one day to perform the 
 vast amount of work on hand, and the 
 farmers' convention at Ottawa in 1910 
 marked a new era in the history of 
 Canadian affairs. At 6 o'clock the 
 entire platform had been prepared to 
 present to the government, and had been 
 unanimously endorsed by the great con- 
 vention. 
 
 Officers Present 
 
 The officers and members of the Cana- 
 dian Council of Agriculture and the 
 representatives from Nova Ccotia, New 
 Brunswick and Quebec were: D. W. Me- 
 Cuaig, of Winnipeg, president; James 
 Bower, Red Deer, Alta., vice-president; 
 B. C. Drury, Barrie, Ont. secretary- 
 treasurer. 
 
 W. J. Tregillus (Calgary), E. J. Fream 
 (Innisfail), James Speakman (Penhold) 
 and D. W. Warner (Edmonton) repre- 
 senting the United Farmers of Alberta. 
 
 R. C. Henders (Culross), R. Mc- 
 Kenzie (Winnipeg), Peter Wright (Myrtle) 
 and J. S. Wood (Oakville) representing 
 the Manitoba Graiil Growers' Association. 
 
 F. W. Green (Moose Jaw), E. A. Par- 
 tridge (Sintaluta), J. A. Maharg (Moose 
 Jaw) representing the Saskatchewan Grain 
 Growers' Association. 
 
 N. E. Burton, (Port Stanley), E. C. 
 Drury (Barrie), J. J. Morrison (Arthur), 
 W. L. Smith (Toronto), James McEwing 
 (Drayton), J. G. Lethbridge (Alliance), 
 Thos. McMillan (Seaforth) representing 
 the Dominion Grange of Ontario. 
 
 S. C. Parker (Berwick), M. K. Ellis 
 (Kentville) representing the Nova Scotia 
 Fruit Growers' Association. 
 
 S. B. Hathaway (Fredericton) and 
 W. M. Fawcett (Sackville) representing 
 the New Brunswick Farmers' association. 
 
 W. L. Stephen (Huntington), David 
 Bass (Cazanville), Arch. Muir, jr. (Hunt- 
 ingdon), Dr. R. W. Walsh (Huntingdon), 
 Robt. Sellar (Huntingdon), James Bryson 
 (Brysonville), Jos. Lafevre (Howick), 
 James McKell (Riverfield), Alex. Mc- 
 Grath (Aliens Corners), Alex. T. Cunning- 
 ham (Brysonville) representing the Dairy- 
 men and Stockmen's associations of 
 Quebec. 
 
 Farmers Attract Attention 
 
 During the week prior to December 
 16th there was no subject in Ottawa 
 which aroused more interest than 
 the approach of the farmers' dele- 
 gation from all over Canada. The 
 Western members in the House in parti- 
 cular were greatly interested, and the sub- 
 ject was discussed in party caucuses and 
 in private gatherings. It was realized 
 that when the farmers were thoroughly 
 aroused it was time for the members of 
 the House of Commons to pay at- 
 tention to their demands. The various 
 members of parliament who had con- 
 stituents among the delegates entertained 
 them while at Ottawa, and little private 
 luncheons were the order of the day. 
 Party politics were laid aside and every 
 man met on an even footing. 
 
 Before the Government 
 
 On the morning of December 16 the 
 farmer delegates met in front of the Grand 
 Opera House and marched four abreast 
 up Parliament Hill to the National legis- 
 lative buildings. They formed a most 
 imposing sight and attracted a great deal 
 of attention as such a large delegation to 
 wait upon the government had never been 
 seen at Ottawa* They filed into the House 
 of Commons chamber and occupied the 
 seats of the members, which were kindly 
 given up to them for the occasion The 
 chamber was not large enough to hold 
 all the delegation and it overflowed into 
 the galleries. The members of the 
 House of Commons were nearly all present 
 and were scattered throughout the meet- 
 ing. There were several members of 
 the Manufacturers' Association present, 
 including R. W. Breadner the tariff ex- 
 pert; W. H. Kowley, president, and C. 
 C. Ballantyne, ex-president, and one of 
 the most interested listeners in the gal- 
 lery was Senator Melvin Jones, presi- 
 dent of the Massey-Harris company. 
 Promptly at ten o'clock Sir Wilfrid 
 Laurier entered the chamber, accom- 
 panied by D. W. MeCuaig, president 
 . of the Canadian Council of Agriculture. 
 Sir Wilfrid was given a splendid recep- 
 tion by the farmers, due to the high 
 position which he occupies. He took 
 his seat in the chair of the clerk of 
 the House, immediately in front of 
 Mr. Speaker's chair. At his left sat Sir 
 Richard Cartwright, at his right D. W. 
 MeCuaig, E. C Drury, secretary of the 
 Canadian Council of Agriculture, and R. 
 McKenzie, secretary of the Manitoba 
 Grain Growers' Association. Other mem- 
 bers of the cabinet present were: Hon. 
 Sidney Fisher, Hon. McKenzie-King, 
 Hon. William Patterson, Hon. Frank 
 
Oliver, Hon. Cbas. Murphy, Sir Frederick 
 Borden and Hon. L. P. Brodeur. Mr. 
 R. L Borden, leader of the opposition, 
 occupied a seat not far from Sir Wilfrid 
 Laurier, and there were probably two 
 hundred members of the House of Com- 
 mons present in other parts of the chamber 
 and galleries. Nearly every Western 
 member was present. 
 
 The Dominion Millers' Association 
 consider that government ownership 
 and operation of the terminal elevators 
 the only method by which the terminals 
 can be made satisfactory to the grain 
 trade. They therefore joined with the 
 farmers' delegation in asking the gov- 
 ernment to take over and operate the 
 elevators. The representatives of the 
 Dominion Millrs' Association present at 
 the meeting with the government were 
 
 D. B. Wood, of Hamilton, president; 
 George E. Goldie, of Toronto; Hedley 
 Shaw, of Toronto, representing the Tor- 
 onto Board of Trade, and W. W. Ric'i- 
 ardson representing the Grain Exporters 
 of Eastern and Western Canada. Each 
 of these representatives presented an 
 address to Sir Wilfrid Laurier support- 
 ing the requests of the farmers. 
 
 Publicity Helps Farmers 
 
 The press gallery and the press room in 
 the House of Commons is one of the 
 most important rooms in the building, as 
 from it emanates all the news which 
 informs the people of Canada and of the 
 whole world what is taking place in the 
 national legislature. In the press room 
 are about thirty representatives of jour- 
 nals from all parts of Canada, New York, 
 Boston and England. One of the busiest 
 nights they ever spent was on Thursday, 
 December 15th, after the farmers' con- 
 vention. It was decided by the conven- 
 tion to hand out all information to the 
 press, and to hold nothing back whatever, 
 as it was felt that publicity was the great- 
 est friend of the farmers' cause. The 
 press committee composed of Messrs. 
 
 E. J. Fream and G. F. Chipman, supplied 
 to the newspaper representatives copies 
 of all the resolutions passed at the con- 
 vention, and also all the memorials 
 which were presented to the government. 
 They were wired all over Canada and the 
 United States, and cabled to the Old 
 Country. Every daily newspaper on 
 Friday gave first place to the farmers. 
 Some of them had very little other 
 news in them except that of the farmers' 
 delegations. Canada sat up on Friday 
 morning and rubbed its eyes to see that 
 the farmers were at last coming to the front 
 and were capable of doing business at 
 Ottawa, as well as were the manufacturers 
 and other interests. The newspaper 
 
 men were glad to see the farmers arrive 
 because it aroused interest and gave the 
 public something to talk about. The or- 
 dinary newspaper man is a democrat 
 and likes to see democracy forge ahead. 
 
 Business Before Pleasure 
 
 The Canadian Manufacturers were 
 anxious to do something to entertain 
 the farmers during their visit to Ottawa. 
 An invitation was received from the 
 Manufacturers on Thursday, asking the 
 farmers to go to Montreal by special train 
 and visit a large number of the manufac- 
 turing plants of that city. Another in- 
 vitation was received from the Cockshutt 
 Plow company to visit their works-at 
 Brantford, by special train. Other in- 
 vitations were to visit the E. B. Eddy 
 works and the J. R. Booth works in Otta- 
 wa. The farmers were not able to accept 
 the invitations to visit any of the plants 
 except those in Ottawa, and passed the 
 following resolution: 
 
 "That, while thanking the Manufac- 
 turers for their kind invitation we must 
 express our regret at being at present 
 unable to accept their offer, through 
 pressure of business." 
 
 There was no feeling of animosity on 
 the part of the farmers towards the 
 manufacturers, but their business at Ot- 
 tawa occupied their time fully x until 
 Friday night, and the majority of them 
 wished to start on their homeward 
 journey on Saturday morning. 
 
 Most of those who remained overnight 
 on Friday visited the Central Experimen- 
 tal farm on Saturday morning, where 
 they were received by the officials and 
 shown everything of interest on the farm. 
 
 Earl Grey Entertains 
 
 One of the most enjoyable functions the 
 farmers attended during their visit to 
 Ottawa was the reception given by Earl 
 Grey, governor-general, and Lady Grey, 
 at Rideau Hall. Special street cars were 
 provided on Friday afternoon at 3 o'clock, 
 and more than five hundred of the dele- 
 gates went out to Government House, 
 where they were received by their excel- 
 lencies and treated to refreshments. 
 After conversing for a time with the 
 Governor-General and Lady Grey they 
 were shown through the magnificent 
 home of King Edward's representative 
 and went away delighted with the meeting. 
 No person is better qualified to entertain 
 citizens in every walk of life than is Earl 
 Grey. He is regarded at Ottawa as one 
 of the most popular, if not the most popu- 
 lar governor-general that Canada ever 
 had. There was no opportunity for any 
 person to feel awkward at Government 
 House, and the farmers who were present 
 
were not given to feeling out of place 
 anywhere. Although their clothing was 
 not of the latest cut, nor their whiskers 
 trimmed in the most approved style, 
 they realized the part they were playing 
 in the upbuilding of the nation, and their 
 feeling of dignity did not desert them. 
 Owing to meetings of the executive 
 officers they were not able to attend 
 at Rideau Hall early in the afternoon, 
 but went out later at the special request 
 of the governor-general and were received 
 in the same cordial manner. To each of 
 the officers Earl Grey presented an auto- 
 graphed copy of Sir Horace Plunkett's 
 recent book on "Rural Problems of the 
 United States," being a study of co-oper- 
 ative "methods among the agricultural 
 classes, and its benefits. In his chat 
 with the farmers Earl Grey expressed his 
 deepest interest in their work and in the 
 movement which they were carrying on, 
 and welcomed them to Ottawa as he has 
 done with delegations representing other 
 classes at many times. He expressed an 
 interest in the work of the Grain Growers' 
 Grain Company, and his great satisfaction 
 that the company had devoted $25,000 
 of its profits last year to educational work. 
 This he felt to be one of the best possible 
 moves that could be made toward building 
 up a strong and intelligent race of people 
 in the West. 
 
 Mr. Oliver's Banquet 
 
 The only banquet given at Ottawa 
 was that given by Hon. Prank Oliver, 
 Minister of Interior, to the Western 
 delegates on the night of December 16 
 in the great restaurant of the House of 
 
 Commons building. There were more 
 than five hundred farmers present, and ' 
 the dinner provided was the choicest pro- 
 duct of culinary art. Mr. Oliver sat at 
 the head of the table and beside him were 
 
 D. W. McCuaig, president of the Canadian 
 Council of Agriculture, and Sir Frederick 
 Borden, Minister of Militia. Others at 
 the head of the table were E. C. Drury 
 secretary Canadian Council of Agricul- 
 ture; James Bower, president U. F. A.; 
 R. C. Henders, president M. G. G. A.; 
 F. W. Green, secretary S. G. G. A.; R. 
 McKenzie, secretary M. G. G. A.; and 
 
 E. J. Fream, secretary U. F. A.; Peter" 
 Wright, James Speakman, D. W. Warner, 
 A. G. Hawkes, Dr. T. Hill. The evening 
 was most pleasantly spent in speech- 
 making, and listening to the excellent 
 program of music provided by the host. 
 Sir Frederick Borden proposed the toast, 
 "Canada," and the speakers in response 
 were D. W. McCuaig and E. C. Drury. 
 Other speakers of the evening were: 
 R.- C. Henders, F. W. Green, A. G. 
 Hawkes and Dr. Hill 
 
 Assistance Appreciated 
 
 The thanks of the farmers who at- 
 tended the Ottawa convention is due 
 to Mr. H. W. Baker, publicity commis- 
 sioner of the city of Ottawa, for the 
 splendid manner in which he provided 
 for and assisted in every way in enter- 
 taining them. Mr. Baker supplied each 
 delegate with a booklet, descriptive of 
 the city, and assisted in locating the 
 delegates at hotels. Such aid was much 
 appreciated by the farmers. 
 
SOME TARIFF SPEECHES 
 
 The following are the addresses on the Tariff, delivered 
 
 at the Convention, held in the Grand Opera 
 
 House, Ottawa, on December 1 5 th, 1910 
 
 E. C. Dniry, of Barrie, Ont., Secretary Canadian Council of Agricul- 
 ture, moved the adoption of the Tariff Resolution which was presented to 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and in doing so said:--- 
 
 ME. DRURY'S ADDRESS 
 
 Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: — I 
 think I am safe in saying that 
 this is the great • question that 
 has brought us together today. We 
 have men here from Alberta to Nova 
 Scotia, and we have dealt with some 
 questions which are almost ' purely 
 Western questions. We men of the east 
 are with you in them; that is, we will 
 say you have our sympathy and we will 
 do our best to help you in them, but 
 the great question of the day as far as 
 the farmers of the East are concerned 
 is the question of the tariff. (Hear, 
 hear). Now your Council has already 
 done a good deal of work in the matter, 
 and the business of the remainder of 
 this session will be to present to you 
 in brief form the conclusions that have 
 been arrived at by the executive of the 
 council for your approval, in' order that 
 you- may endorse them or amend them 
 if necessary, and the executive of the 
 council' may embody them in a mem- 
 orial to Sir Wilfrid Laurier tomorrow 
 morning. 1 So it becomes my duty to 
 read to you the proposals that, with 
 your approval, we propose to lay before 
 the government. These are as follows: 
 
 The Proposals 
 
 First, that we shall ask for reciprocal 
 free trade between the United States 
 and Canada in air horticultural, agricul- 
 tural, and animal products,- spraying 
 materials, fertilizers, fuel, illuminating 
 and lubricating oils; J cement', fish and 
 lumber.' •■■■-• ■-:■ ' -■ - 
 
 ,; Second, that -we shall ask for. recip- 
 rocal free trade between, the two coun- 
 tries in all agricultural . implements, 
 machinery, vehicles and parts thereof. 
 
 The third is with' regard to the Brit- 
 ish preference. (Applause). '"' 
 
 That we ask. for an jmmediate lower- 
 ing of the duties on all British imports 
 
 to one-half the rates charged under the 
 general tariff, whatever these may be, 
 and that any trade advantages given 
 the United States in reciprocal trade 
 relations be extended to Great Britain. 
 (Applause). 
 
 Fourth, for such further reduction 
 of the remaining preferential tariff as 
 will ensure the establishment of com- 
 plete free trade between the Dominion 
 and' the Mother Country' within ten 
 years. 
 
 Now these are the articles that, with 
 your approval, or - subject to your 
 amendment, will be embodied in our 
 memorial. One further thing is neces- 
 sary. If we are confronted with the 
 proposition that to follow these pro- 
 posals would be to materially lower the 
 revenue • of the country, we must be 
 prepared to make some stand on that 
 question, and. we propose to add this 
 to our memorial: "That the farmers of 
 this country are willing to face direct 
 taxation in such form as- may be ad- 
 visable to make up the revenue lost 
 under new tariff relations. ' ' 
 
 Those are the proposals drawn up 
 and submitted to you for your approval 
 by the executive of the National Coun- 
 cil of Agriculture. 
 
 Now; in speaking- to this question; I 
 Would like to say a few' words, and at 
 the beginning I would say I believe the 
 farmers of Canada have nothing but 
 good will towards our manufacturers. 
 Speaking for myself and from my 
 knowledge of farmers, I would say that 
 we'wish to see our manufacturing towns 
 thrive; we want to see these " wonder- 
 ful waterpowers developed 'and used in 
 manufacturing enterprises, but as a 
 friend-' at .the Pqmin.ion.t, Grange said 
 yesterday, -we want the manufacturers 
 to starrtl on .their :owu- feet ^and not on 
 ours. . Because the manufacturers ,at the 
 present time, are not. standing . on their 
 own feet, and.they are standing on ours, 
 
 11 
 
very decidedly so, and we feel it sorely 
 and we are greatly inconvenienced 
 by it. 
 
 Development Being Retarded 
 
 We are not dealing today with the 
 theoretical question of free trade or 
 protection. That is not the question 
 that is coming before us. There are 
 many men in- this country who were 
 protectionists, and for my own part I 
 do not see any objection to the system 
 of protection if it does what it is 
 intended to do, that is to assist for a 
 short time an infant industry until it 
 can get on its feet. But no one con- 
 templated that this would run on for 
 years and become a permanent burden 
 oji this country. And that is the posi- 
 tion we are in today. Our organized 
 manufacturers are holding up the coun- 
 try. They are not trying to develop 
 the country or to increase its output, 
 but to hold up the country for their own 
 benefit. The worst opposition that any 
 manufacturing industry would meet if 
 it endeavored to establish itself in this 
 country would be from our own manu- 
 facturing industries. They are doing 
 our basic industry untold' harm. My 
 interests are in the farm. 
 
 In dealing with any national ques- 
 tion we should throw 'aside our class 
 prejudices, and I would present this 
 question not from the farmers' stand- 
 point, but from the standpoint of build- 
 ing up a great empire. Since last sum- 
 mer when Sir Wilfrid Laurier went 
 through the West our opponents have 
 endeavored to represent the farmers as 
 a selfish cla'ss, not willing to take their 
 share in the up-building of the country. 
 We are not asking anything from the 
 manufacturers. We are not going to 
 do them one particle of harm; we are 
 simply asking for a litle more justice 
 than we have at the present time. That 
 is all we are asking for. We are not 
 asking that any system be introduced 
 which would tax the manufacturers for 
 the benefit of the farmers; we are not 
 asking that one single cent be taken 
 from any other class and given to the 
 farmers, but we are asking that this 
 system which was established for the 
 benefit of our infant industries and has 
 now become a system of legalized rob- 
 bery should be put a stop to. 
 
 Antiquated Methods 
 
 I intend to give a few concrete in- 
 stances. We believe that the manufac- 
 turing industries are rotten in their 
 organization. That is a hard term to 
 use and in making use of it I have no 
 personal aversion to manufacturers; I 
 
 would like to see them prosper. But an 
 abominable system has been introduced, 
 and that is the practice of watering 
 stock. Very few of our manufacturing 
 industries are properly organized. Some 
 are watered to the extent of 90 per 
 cent., and they are asking the public 
 to pay a reasonable dividend on that 
 watered stock. There are in this coun- 
 try industries that are run on lines so 
 antiquated and out of date that they 
 cannot be run at a proper profit. I 
 am told that some of the manufacturers 
 of this country are using machinery that 
 was discarded in the Old Country 50 
 years ago. If we farmers were to use 
 the antiquated implements that our 
 grandfathers used we would not have 
 a right to ask the government to pro- 
 tect us. Unfortunately the light has not 
 come in in many cases, but one of our 
 chief outcries in the matter of the tariff 
 has been in connection with the cotton 
 industry. You have heard a good deal 
 about that. You have heard the manu- 
 facturers of cotton materials saying 
 that unless they have protection they 
 will be forced out of business. The Do- 
 minion Textile company is one of the 
 largest cotton concerns of this country. 
 They were organized some years ago. 
 They had trouble two years ago, their 
 employees struck because of a cut of 
 ten per cent, in their wages. Mr. Mac- 
 kenzie King went down to investigate 
 the trouble, and some facts came out 
 which throw a little light on the inside, 
 where very little light usually pene- 
 trates. I believe if the consumers gen- 
 erally, not only the farmers, but consum- 
 ers of every class, knew something of 
 the manufacturing industries, how they 
 are run and how they are organized, 
 and the profits they are paying, there 
 would not be any need of n deputation 
 coming here. 
 
 Knowledge Not General 
 
 Our members of parliament do not 
 know these things, but there is a blue 
 book in existence which gives a great 
 deal of information as to the Dominion 
 Textile Co. A few days ago I was 
 talking to a prominent member of par- 
 liament about this and he did not know 
 that this report was in existence. There 
 is a man who is paid by his country 
 and was elected by his constituents, but 
 he was not aware of this report which 
 was presented to the government deal- 
 ing with this important matter. One 
 of the statements in this book is that 
 the capitalization was made at 10 cents 
 on the dollar. It was done at the time 
 a merger was formed by a number of 
 cotton manufacturers. "There is some 
 
 12 
 
reason for, selling stock sometimes at 
 less than 100 cents on the dollar when 
 a new enterprise is being established, 
 but when you have a concern with mills 
 which have been running and you bring 
 them together under one company there 
 is no occasion for doing so. 
 
 The report says that the common 
 stock of this company was capitalized 
 at 10 cents on the dollar and that it 
 was enabled to pay 50 per cent, in divi- 
 dends on the money they actually put 
 into the concern in the year they cut 
 the rate of wages, and that they issued 
 a circular just before they made that 
 cut. They said: "Unfortunately the 
 cotton trade of this country does not 
 receive sufficient protection, and it is 
 possible for the manufacturers of Eng- 
 land and the United States to undersell 
 us, which means that we do not secure 
 all the business to which we have a right. 
 With more protection our mills would 
 be enabled to Tun full time, and the 
 companies would be in a position to 
 give better wages." 
 
 They were paying 50 per cent, divi- 
 dends when they issued that circular. 
 Now, gentlemen, the light has not shone 
 in on many occasions, but this is one 
 of the cases where the facts have be- 
 come public. I have published these 
 facts, and the public are getting to 
 know them, but this is only one case, 
 and we are doing something for the 
 good of the country in asking that this 
 system be swept away. 
 
 It is based on misrepresentation; in 
 the ordinary way we would say that it 
 is based on a lie. 
 
 The report of which I have reference 
 was issued by the government in 1900; 
 it is sessional paper No. 39 and is called 
 ' ' Report of Boyal Commission to in- 
 quire into industrial , disputes in the 
 cotton factories of the province of 
 Quebec. 
 
 The secretary of the Dominion Textile 
 Co. was under question and the report 
 reads as follows: 
 
 ' ' Q. — How much did the common 
 stock cost the original owners? A- — 
 It cost the original owners ten cents on 
 the dollar. 
 
 ' ' Q. — How much interest does that 
 stock pay? A. — Fifty per cent, on the 
 cost. ' ' 
 
 Now we are told that if we sweep away 
 this system that we will do a great deal 
 of harm to our factory employees. We 
 are told that it exists for the benefit 
 of the workman, and I say that if we 
 were doing one thing that was making 
 the lives of our. workmen in the fac- 
 tories harder I would pause and con- 
 sider a long time before I would do it. 
 
 (Hear, hear). Let it be understood at 
 once that there is no antagonism be- 
 tween the farmer and the workman. We 
 are workers ourselves. We know what 
 hard work is, and my sympathies are 
 fully with those who work with their 
 hands. The farmer and the workman 
 stand on common ground. But how was 
 this company treating its employees? 
 The wages they got were not high. 
 They worked by piece work and their 
 average earnings ran from 98 cents to 
 $1.63 per day — not a very great amount. 
 And let us see what hours these men 
 had to work to earn these wages. There 
 is a paragraph here which deals with 
 the treatment of one class of employees. 
 It reads as follows: 
 
 Hours of Labor 
 
 "It has been shown that of the opera- 
 tives employed in the Quebec cotton 
 mills 42.3 per cent, are females and 
 26.6 per cent, were persons under 18 
 years of age. As to the hours of labor 
 of all these two classes it was asserted 
 that in normal times under normal con- 
 ditions work should begin on week days 
 at 6.15 o'clock in the morning and con- 
 tinue to 12 noon, resume at a quarter to 
 one, and continue till 6, with the excep- 
 tion of Saturday, when there was work 
 only in the morning." 
 
 Those were the conditions under 
 which women and children were em- 
 ployed by a company that was paying 
 50 per cent, profit and asking for more 
 protection. Are we going beyond our 
 rights when we claim that we shall not 
 be taxed for the benefit of such a com- 
 pany? 
 
 I believe that a commission that 
 would go into facts like these fully and 
 would show the conditions existing in 
 our manufacturing industries would 
 arouse such a storm of public sentiment 
 against protection as would sweep it 
 away forever. 
 
 Agriculture no doubt has suffered. We 
 talk a great deal about our agricultural 
 development, but with our excellent 
 system of agricultural education that 
 we have, there is no doubt that educa- 
 tion is doing a great deal for us, the 
 agricultural colleges, the farmers ' insti- 
 tutes and so forth. 
 
 You know we have had a great deal 
 of advice within the last year or two 
 about the decrease in farm output, 
 chiefly by men who are not on farms, 
 and I would suggest that these people 
 who talk this way should put them- 
 selves in the hands of a committee and 
 go on a 200 acre farm and work it 
 themselves and see how they would 
 make out. (Hear, hear, and laughter). 
 
 18 
 
We have advanced a long way in our 
 methods ef farming, and yet the farm 
 production and farm population is de- 
 creasing in every province east of Mani- 
 toba, and in Manitoba the town popula- 
 tion is increasing faster than the rural 
 population. And the reason is that the 
 farmer is taxed more than he can stand. 
 
 Farmers Not Protected 
 
 We stand to lose nothing by free 
 trade. The offer is not made out of a 
 spirit of generosity, but because we 
 have nothing to lose. In farm products 
 we have more than we can possibly 
 consume, and unless we can combine 
 and have two prices, one for home trade 
 and one ior export which we do not 
 want to do, we can only get the full 
 value of our goods by having free 
 access to foreign markets. 
 
 But the price of everything we buy 
 is raised by reason of the tariff. I have 
 done a little careful figuring on this 
 subject, and I have consulted a great 
 number of farmers, and they think that 
 when I say we farmers are paying on 
 the average $200 a year by reason of 
 the tariff that I am well within the 
 mark. That is something that we do 
 not get any return for. My friend Mr. 
 McKenzie, of Winnipeg, made a cal- 
 culation in 1905, and he found that in 
 that year the tariff enabled the manu- 
 facturers to take out of the pockets 
 of the consumers of Canada $199,000,- 
 000. When we consider that, is it any 
 wonder that the agricultural popula- 
 tion is shrinking? That is the greatest 
 question of the day. We talk a long 
 while about our government expendi- 
 tures, and I tiink it would be well for 
 the farmers to urge upon the govern- 
 ment the necessity of economy, because 
 all our expenditures are not for useful 
 purposes but our manufacturers are 
 enabled to levy a sum three times as 
 large as that which the government 
 levies 'and for that we get no return. 
 It was suggested at the Grange that we 
 might be responsible for spiritual de- 
 generation of the manufacturers owing 
 to the large amount of ill-gotten wealth 
 they have been allowed to accumulate. 
 (Laughter). But be that as it may, this 
 is a matter of vital national importance. 
 There is no doubt that the farms of 
 this country are the greatest national 
 asset we have. • The wise handling of 
 these farms is of the greatest import- 
 ance. In the West you are endeavoring 
 to follow, the best methods of farming, 
 and. you are d<Sing it from necessity, 
 because , you cannot 'afford to do any- 
 thing else. We are doing the same in 
 
 Ontario, and if our conservation com- 
 mission would do something towards 
 conserving the most important of our 
 national assets, the fertility of the 
 farms of our country, they would be 
 doing something of very great value. 
 
 Reciprocity 
 
 To have access to the markets of the 
 United States would mean a great deal 
 to us in the East. In the West it would 
 mean a great deal to you if you could 
 get your wheat across the line to the 
 western States. As for loss, I believe 
 it would mean absolutely nothing. There 
 has been a statement made that in a 
 small section of Ontario the fruit grow- 
 ers would suffer, but if they were to get 
 the benefit of cheaper goods which they 
 consume I do not believe they would 
 suffer at all. We shall hear from some 
 big fruit men this afternoon. 
 
 Then we ask for free trade between 
 the United States and Canada in spray- 
 ing materials (a great advantage to 
 our fruit growers), fertilizers (a great 
 advantage to our potato growers in 
 the Maritime provinces especially), fuel, 
 illuminating and lubricating oils (which 
 would mean a great advantage to many 
 people and could not do any harm), 
 and cement. Now we want free trade 
 in cement, certainly we do. Why should 
 we be taxed for the benefit of a cement 
 combine'? It is asserted tha,t a cement 
 combine exists; we have not been able 
 to get very definite facts with regard 
 to it, but we believe that it exists. 
 Then we ask for free trade in fish. Ask 
 the men from the Maritime provinces 
 about that. That is a great thing for 
 them to be able to get into the mar- 
 kets of the United States with their fish. 
 And lumber (hear, hear). Lumber for 
 you men in the West; you know what 
 that would mean for you. 
 
 Manufacturers Will Stay 
 
 Second we ask for free trade between 
 the United States and Canada in all 
 agricultural implements, ' machinery, 
 vehicles and parts thereof. That is 
 that we accept the standing offer of the 
 United States in this matter. Of course 
 you know it is opposed. The Massey- 
 Harris Company oppose it, and for two 
 or three reasons. As you have gathered 
 from Senator Melvin Jones' letters Jn 
 the papers, one is that if they had not 
 a protective tariff they would get up 
 and move across the line. We would 
 oe sorry to lose them. I look with 
 pride upon the Massey-Harris : factory 
 in Toronto and I should indeed be sorry 
 if it had to be closed. But I do not 
 
 14 
 
see why they cannot manufacture agri- 
 cultural machinery here as well as 
 across the line. If they had any pat- 
 riotism they would. I have enough pat- 
 riotism to stay here, even though I 
 could make a few dollars more some- 
 where else. There is no reason why 
 they should not stay in Canada and 
 continue to manufacture agricultural im- 
 plements, and prosper, and I believe 
 they would. They have bought a plant 
 across the line, they have bought it for 
 good and sufficient business reasons, we 
 are told, but we shall never see the 
 Massey-Harris company move their es- 
 tablishment here. They are going to 
 stay here, and if we have free trade, as 
 I believe we are in agricultural imple- 
 ments, they will find a market extend- 
 ing north, east, west and south. I 
 think sometimes these companies need 
 a little enlightening, because if the same 
 reasoning powers go into the manage- 
 ment of their business as into their 
 arguments they must be pretty badly 
 managed. For instance, one of the rea- 
 sons given against the removal of the 
 duty was that the tariff had brought 
 the McCormick people to Hamilton. 
 Then it was said that the tariff was 
 needed to produce revenue. But there 
 is inconsistency there because when the 
 McCormick people were in Chicago the 
 government collected the revenue, but 
 when they moved into Canada the Mc- 
 Cormick > eople collected it. So that the 
 'arguments used against free trade on 
 account of revenue fall absolutely flat. 
 Nearly every manufacturing concern in 
 Canada gets its implements and mater- 
 ials free, while the farmer pays on 
 everything he buys. 
 
 I do not think there will be much 
 doubt as to your approval of this 
 clause with regard to free trade in 
 agricultural implements and machines, 
 including all kinds of machinery used 
 on the farm. 
 
 The British Preference 
 
 Then we are asking in the third place 
 for something that I believe everyone 
 will thoroughly concur in, because after 
 all there is no basis of fact in 'all this 
 talk that Canadians are not loyal to 
 the empire and that Canadian farmers 
 require petting and coaxing and treat- 
 ing in various ways to keep them within 
 the empire. We are going to show them 
 that the Canadian farmers can excel 
 the flag-flapping class of Canadian by a 
 long way, because we are going to ask 
 for an immediate lowering of the duties 
 on British' imports to one-half the rates 
 charged under the general tariff, what- 
 
 ever these may be, and that any trade 
 advantages given the United States in. 
 reciprocal trade relations be extended to 
 Great Britain. (Loud applause). 
 
 Now, I am not going to talk patriot- 
 ism, because patriotism has been said 
 to be the last refuge of a scoundrel, but 
 this would be a practical measure of 
 patriotism and would go a long wa}' to 
 help our fellow workers in the factories 
 of Great Britain. We are not going to 
 say, so far as your executive is con- 
 cerned at least, that in return for our 
 asking that, that we want the British- 
 ers to tax their food supplies in order 
 to give us a preference. (Loud cries of 
 "No, no"). We know what protection 
 has done for us and we do not want to. 
 ask the starving factory hands 01 Great, 
 Britain to tax their loaf for the benefit, 
 of the Western wheat grower, nor to, 
 tax their meat for the benefit of the. 
 Ontario livestock man. That is a thing- 
 that the Canadian farmers, if I under- 
 stand them, will not do. (Loud ap- 
 plause). 
 
 A Selfish Motive 
 
 But if it comes down to the actual- 
 facts, we are probably doing it largely 
 from a selfish standpoint, because we- 
 want relief from the burdens that are 
 pressing us, and we think we see a 
 chance of doing that and helping our 
 friends in the Mother Country as well.. 
 We want them to give us relief with 
 their cotton goods, their woollens and 
 many other lines of manufactures. 
 
 I want to see the political party that 
 will come out and oppose that if it is 
 demanded by 800 organized farmers, 
 representing the organized farmers from 
 Nova Scotia to the Rocky Mountains, 
 and I would like to see the party that 
 would dare to say that they will oppose 
 the increase of the British preference. 
 A trade between Great Britain and 
 Canada would help us largely in dis- 
 posing of our products, reduce our 
 freight rates, cut down our living ex- 
 penses, enable us to pay our hired work- 
 ers better wages, and wages that are 
 better to them. The workers from Great 
 Britain when they get our high wages 
 think it is great to have them, but 
 when they find out the cost of manufac- 
 tured articles they sometimes think they 
 would have been just as well off in 
 Great Britain. 
 
 For these reasons we ask that the 
 British preference be reduced so that in 
 ten years .there shall be complete free, 
 trade between Canada and the Mother 
 Country. (Loud applause). That is the 
 proposal that ^ we submit to you, and. if- 
 you approve of them yov.r council will 
 
 15 
 
embody them in 'a memorial to be pre- 
 sented to the government, and I believe 
 if you ask for that, you will get it. I 
 beg, Mr. Chairman, to move the reso- 
 lution which I have already read. 
 (Cheers). 
 
 QUEBEC ON HAND 
 
 Robert Sellar, Huntington County, 
 <Jue.: — I would suggest to you, gentle- 
 men, that it is only fair that each prov- 
 ince should have some representative 
 to speak its views, and that there 
 should be a limit as to time, and T tell 
 the chairman if I go beyond ten minutes 
 to pull my coat. I will speak to you 
 .about reciprocity. Supposing an Ameri- 
 can farmer wants a Canadian farmer's 
 hog, and the American farmer says to 
 the Canadian farmer: "I would like 
 ^our pig." They are both farmers; 
 they are neighbors, but they cannot ex- 
 change that pig without each paying a 
 fine upon the exchange. There is a 
 jstring of blue-coated men to prevent ex- 
 change between the two countries. You 
 .cannot separate the two countries. They 
 are placed there for all time and yet 
 .they cannot be allowed to exchange com- 
 modities together. I say no. Why are 
 the American government keeping up 
 a custom house every ten miles across 
 ;3,000- miles? If we are not going to be 
 allowed to exchange commodities we 
 might as well go out of the country alto- 
 gether and put up a sign of "Bank- 
 ruptcy. " It is said this is not loyal 
 •talk; it is not loyal to buy from them; 
 it is not loyal to sell to them. Our 
 loyalty is to the country of our birth, 
 and that is Canada. We think we have 
 .something a little better than our neigh- 
 bor and we are going to be loyal for 
 that' reason, not because there is a 
 fence put up to keep us from trading 
 -together, and, gentlemen, can you tell 
 me any better way to keep in peace 
 with our neighbor than in trading with 
 'them? We have lived a hundred years 
 in peace. We have said we must have 
 .defence — defence against whom? The 
 Americans are just as well disposed 
 towards us as we are disposed towards 
 -them. We differ as to political institu- 
 tions, but we do not differ in living in 
 peace to each other and acting as good 
 •neighbors should. I tell you that all 
 -that talk about red coats and defence 
 Is absolute bosh. It means the spoiling 
 of our own men by enlisting them. We 
 have no need of soldiers and we have 
 no need of a scrap-iron navy, either. 
 Give us an honest government .and there 
 will be no need of a special tax on the 
 'farming implements to make up a navy. 
 
 Now, gentlemen, remember this: You 
 are going to lay your petitions before 
 them; how is it going to be done? Are 
 you going to ask them to excuse you? 
 Perhaps you saw that picture the manu- 
 facturers have — "The beggars have 
 come to town." But now it is: "The 
 masters have come to town! " You have 
 the power to dictate to the govern- 
 ment of this country and you are fools 
 if you do not do it. You want to go 
 up to the house tomorrow and show 
 them that you are men, demanding as 
 men that we get reciprocity. 
 
 ALBERTA VIEWS 
 
 Jas. Speakman, Penhold, Alta. — >Mr. 
 President and Gentlemen: — I have been 
 travelling since last Friday night, with 
 the exception of resting on Sunday, and 
 not resting while we were travelling, 
 working in the cars as hard as we could 
 as we went along to get these questions 
 ready. And this meeting so far has 
 more than repaid all the worry and all 
 the work that I felt in connection with 
 this great organization this day. I 
 didn't want to leave home and I felt 
 the responsibility of this job, and there 
 was one worry that has completely 
 ended today. I seem to feel quite as 
 much at home in Ottawa and Ontario 
 as I did in the finer and better climate 
 of Alberta. (Applause). When I left 
 Alberta I hardly needed an overcoat, 
 and today my ears nearly froze! The 
 subject I want to talk about is the 
 wonderful enthusiasm and unanimity 
 with which you have accepted the reso- 
 lutions that the Council have put before 
 you this afternoon. Some of us would 
 have liked to have gone further than 
 the resolutions proposed, 'and we would 
 have been inclined to have been a little 
 more courageous. We were told all the 
 time that when you come up to Ontario 
 you will have to modify your views. The 
 wise men of the East are not quite so 
 extreme as you men in the West, and 
 some of you who read the "Toronto 
 Globe" will find the Farm Editor tells 
 us that most of the farm readers are 
 extremely narrow and wilful, and he 
 said we would have to be moderate in 
 our views, but it seems to me you On- 
 tario people and Nova Scotia would go 
 as far as we would in the West. We 
 had those proposals before you, and if 
 yoa had time I would like to reason 
 them out with you, but I think it is 
 hardly necessary. This tariff question 
 has been put completely before you. In 
 regard to this reciprocity, question I 
 must refer to a speech that was made 
 
not long ago by the Hon. Senator Koss. 
 It may be that we Western people have 
 not enough reverence for senators, but 
 some of those arguments didn't im- 
 press us much. The first argument was 
 this, that because in 1866 the Ameri- 
 can statesmen of those days did some- 
 thing that wasn't pleasing to Canada, 
 therefore today in 1910 we must be 
 very careful not to be friendly with 
 the Americans. Because your grand- 
 father and mine quarrelled when we 
 were children it would be a reason for 
 us not to be too friendly today. I am 
 only an old farmer, but somehow that 
 does not get into my head. The next 
 argument is this, the United States 
 tariff is much higher than Canadian. 
 The Canadian is now very low. Why 
 should you be so generous as to lower 
 it still more? Because the United States 
 people like to tax themselves very 
 heavily on all the stuff they have to 
 wear, therefore you Canadians take 
 care that you tax yourselves just as 
 heavily on all the stuff you use in your 
 own country. When I was a school boy 
 I used to have a temper that wasn't 
 very pleasing to my mother, and some- 
 times if something happened I didn't 
 like I would walk out of the house 
 without my breakfast — just to vex my 
 mother! Before dinner came round I 
 knew who was most vexed! Isn't that 
 just the kind of thing we are asked 
 to do? We have found out that the 
 tariff is the part of the shoe that 
 pinches most. We have got to put our 
 hands in our pocket and pay the high 
 prices. And then the usual cry for 
 patriotism. Patriotism always means 
 a system by which people can gather 
 in Canadian money. Under this pat- 
 riotism we have today, the more foreign 
 goods I buy the more patriotic I am, 
 because only on foreign goods do I pay 
 revenue into my country. That kind 
 of patriotism that makes a man buy 
 foreign goods to pay the taxes into 
 his own exchequer — that is the kind of 
 patriotism I don't understand. 
 
 Now it almost looks as if opening 
 the way out south would mean build- 
 ing up a great wall east so that we 
 wouldn 't send them where we do now. 
 I don 't understand that anybody wants 
 to shut the door against Great Britain 
 when we are opening the door to the 
 United States. We would have just 
 the same privilege with Great Britain 
 as we have today and in addition we 
 would have the ability to go south. 
 When I want to sell to a neighbor 
 south and they say: "That is not 
 allowed; you must sell to your neigh- 
 bor east," I say: "I am the best judge 
 
 of that. We live in the land of liberty 
 and if I want to trade south, who is 
 going to tell me I must trade east?" 
 If the United States throw open their 
 market to us through this treaty and 
 we get better profits' selling there, nat- 
 urally we will sell there, and if we 
 don 't get better profits there, if we 
 can sell as well in Great Britain we can 
 sell to Great Britain if we make most 
 there. And there perhaps the crux of 
 the whole thing comes in. I have an 
 idea that that lies underneath the whole 
 thing at bottom: If we can ship 
 cheaper and better by running through 
 the United States lines than through 
 the Canadian lines. The freight ques- 
 tion is almost a greater question to us 
 in the West, and if these new route 
 channels for freight to the United 
 States show them that they have com- 
 petition they will have to cut down their 
 rates. I didn't expect to take up so 
 much of the time but I am especially 
 glad to know that you are determined 
 that our old Mother Country shall not 
 take a back seat — that whatever nego- 
 tiations we have with any other coun- 
 try, I am especially glad that as an 
 old Englishman, though I have been 25 
 years in the New Country, I have still 
 a warm spot for my old Motherland, 
 and I find that Canadians have more 
 loyal feeling for the Old Land than our 
 brothers in Great Britain. What makes 
 my heart boil is when politicians tell 
 us that we want to tax the food of 
 Great Britain in order to enrich our- 
 selves with larger profits. Ask a Cana- 
 dian — whether he is a Canadian Liberal 
 or a Canadian Conservative — and he 
 will say at once: "I will have nothing 
 to do with the system that will make 
 the food of the toiling masses of the 
 great old country dearer." 
 
 HURON COUNTY VOICE 
 
 Thos. McMillan, Seaforth, Ont.: — 
 Chairman and Fellow Farmers: — The 
 question was asked: Who was this Mc- 
 Millan? Well, sir, I happen to be one 
 of the representatives from the County 
 of Huron. Our Western friends have 
 often heard the question — They didn't 
 know how large Ontario was, but Huron 
 and Bruce must be a pretty large 
 place because it filled all the Western 
 country. I am gratified to see this 
 enthusiastic audience here before us — 
 an audience of farmers, who have come 
 to impress their will. We know that 
 we owe a debt of gratitude to the 
 farmers of the West for the stand they 
 have taken in this question. We notice 
 
 17 
 
that our friends, the manufacturers, 
 -told the, farmers or Canada that the 
 tariff question was one they didn't need 
 rto meddle with; that they didn't need 
 to .pay any attention to it. This is the 
 reply we give to the manufacturers of 
 Canada. .They went even further; they 
 published ' the statement in the lead- 
 ing journals, that the farmers of Ontario 
 were. not. in sympathy with the farm- 
 . ers of the West for lower taiff. I heard 
 a gentleman say that this delegation 
 only represented one out of thirty of the 
 farmers of the West. I tell you, gentle- 
 jnen, . that the two or three hundred 
 farmers who are here do ,not represent 
 one out of every hundred, farmers in 
 the East. (Applause). They are even 
 more vitally interested than the people 
 ■of the West. We have been told that 
 it would be. disloyal for us to trade 
 with our American neighbors. Those 
 who think that the patriotism of Can- 
 ada is nothing but 'a commercial com- 
 modity to be bandied away are very far 
 wrong. I know I express. your senti- 
 ments when I say that there are no 
 worthier people on the face of the globe 
 today than the people who find their 
 homes on the Canadian shores. (Ap- 
 plause) . 
 
 NOVA SCOTIA HEARD FROM 
 
 S. C. Parker, secretary of the Nova 
 Scotia Fruit Growers' Association: I 
 come here at this time to bring you greet- 
 ings from the East, from that little prov- 
 ince where we feed on fish and potatoes, 
 and which has supplied two prime minis- 
 ters to Canada, and "which is in line for 
 the next which ever way the cat jumps, 
 and a province which has supplied a fair 
 proportion at least of the brawn and 
 brain that is building up the West: I am 
 simply here to bring our greetings to you. 
 We came here to get in line with you. 
 We have watched this great movement, 
 and we want to get on the top of the tide 
 wliich is growing and which is rushing 
 on. Oh this matter of the tariff we can 
 Concur with you'in the platform laid down 
 by this resolution. We might have had 
 differences of opinion on some questions, 
 for every province has its own interests, 
 but on the great issue of better trade, 
 freer trade with the mother country 
 and with the great country across the bor- 
 der,, we are with you every time. We 
 •want ' to get in with this organization, 
 .We are few in 'numbers and small in rep- 
 resentation: As you people grow we are 
 going out, but we are going to grow top. 
 ;The West is going to see a boom in Nova 
 'Scotia in the next ten years that it little 
 ! -dreams of. ,'Our fruit business is jjrowing 
 n.t an enormous <rate. We have*' already 
 
 given you apples, we are going to give 
 you more and we are going to give you 
 good ones. I do not know whether our 
 coal goes out to the West (A voice: Send 
 it round by Hudson's Bay). I just came 
 here to tell you that Nova Scotia is still 
 alive. (Loud applause and three cheers 
 for Nova Scotia). 
 
 MANITOBA STANDS FDIM 
 
 Roderick McKenzie, secretary-treas- 
 urer Manitoba Grain Growers' Associa- 
 tion — It would be very unwise 
 for me to enter into an argu- 
 ment on the question before you. 
 I am satisfied in my own mind that this 
 gathering is going to pass this resolution 
 if not unanimously, so near unanimously 
 that we can still call it unanimous. So 
 that it does not need any argument to be 
 advanced in favor of the resolution. 
 I want to say that, as the chairman has 
 said, we have here nearly all the provinces 
 in the Dominion. I think Prince Edward 
 Island is the only one not represented. 
 Manitoba is the last to speak on this 
 resolution but I do not think it is the 
 least. It is sometimes called the postage 
 stamp province, but the most valuable 
 atricles are always wrapped up in small 
 parcels. We can all congratulate oursel- 
 ves as farmers upon the situation that we 
 find ■ ourselves in today; when we get 
 representative farmers from every prov- 
 ince of the Dominion except one to stand 
 up and support a resolution. It is unique 
 in the history of Canada, and it marks a 
 new era in Canadian history for the farm- 
 ers to come here in this way to present 
 their views to parliament. The only 
 objection that we have heard here came 
 from someone who is outside the organiza- 
 tion, and I think we ought to take a lesson 
 from that and get every farmer into our 
 organizations (applause). We have worked 
 for this, we have been organizing for a 
 number of years, and we have had to 
 meet the attacks of those who enjoy 
 special privileges. I think this meeting 
 v will clearly, indicate to everyone that the 
 farmers of Canada are united in their 
 opposition to the. present fiscal System, 
 and that there must be .a change . in the 
 system of collecting reyenue and that we 
 should have relief from ; the burdens thai 
 are placed upon, us by -the tariff. -I trust 
 that the relations of th$i farmers', associa- 
 . tions in different parts of the Dominion 
 will continue to. grow together and that 
 this meeting is but a foretaste of what will 
 be in th& future (Loud applause and three 
 cheers for Manitoba) , 
 
FREE TRADE DANGER FAKE 
 
 Colonel Fraser, Ontario: Mr. President 
 and gentlemen, — It is not my intention to 
 dwell at any great length upon ths subject 
 which is being discussed here this after- 
 noon. I will be very brief, but before 
 commencing I must congratulate you, 
 Sir, upon the large attendance that we 
 have here. Not only in numbers do they 
 excel but the very intelligence of their 
 faces is one that brings gladness to the 
 heart in any audience. It shows that 
 they have gone through, stern trials and 
 passed through tribulation and hardship, 
 but it shows the metal and the nature of 
 the metal that the men of the East and 
 the West are made of. It shows the 
 mettle of the people of this great Dominion 
 of ours and I want to say that when you 
 speak of the loyalty — and I have been 
 connected with the military institutions 
 of this country for a third of a century — 
 I want to tell you, Sir, that when the 
 armies and the navies of this country 
 are swept away, there is a bulwark stronger 
 than either in the sturdy people of this 
 country. Gentlemen, there are one or 
 two points that I would like to have 
 seen mentioned in this resolution. We 
 cannot all be unanimous upon one opinion. 
 I come from the province of Ontario, 
 very contiguous to the gentleman at the 
 back who has dissented. He has a perfect 
 right to do so. One of the great principles 
 that I have always stood for is the right 
 of opinion to my adversary. I do not 
 think that because a man opposes me 
 that I am right and he is wrong. We have 
 a perfect right to differ upon any subject 
 whether it is the momentous subject that 
 concerns the welfare and prosperity of a 
 nation or whether it is the trivial circum- 
 stance affecting only the community in 
 which we reside. I concede the right of 
 difference of opinion to everyone. I do 
 not say that because I differ from a man 
 I am right and he is wrong, or that he is 
 right and I am wrong. We may both 
 be wrong. The point that I wish to 
 draw your attention to is this — is it 
 not a pleasant fact to realize that in 
 this vast audience there is only 
 dissenter against the resolution. Is 
 it not convincing proof of the practical 
 unanimity of the agricultural community 
 of Canada on this question of the tariff? 
 
 Manufacturers Can Stand Alone 
 
 Just a word with regard to manufac- 
 turers. I was in Hamilton the other day 
 and met a large number of manufacturers 
 there. They said if you give us reciprocity 
 with the United States you will ruin the 
 manufacturing industries. I said, " Gen- 
 tlemen, we have had the national policy 
 for thirty years, if it was the protection 
 
 part of the national policy that brought 
 these manufacturers to this country, 
 why did they not come here twenty-five 
 years ago?" It was the trade of this 
 country they came after, not the national 
 policy (applause). A few years ago 
 when the duty on twine was cut in two 
 what was the result? We were told that 
 the twine industries of this country were 
 ruined. But you know that the govern- 
 ment went further and cut the duty off 
 entirely, and yet the Plymouth Cordage 
 Company came into the town of Welland 
 and bought a plant for $2,000,000. It 
 was not the national policy they wanted. 
 It was trade. In the town where I live 
 the Cockshutt Plow Company in spite 
 of the American duty on agricultural 
 implements, sent over seventy-five car 
 loads of plows to the United States last 
 year, and only the other day three car 
 loads of cream separators were shipped 
 from Brantford to California. And so 
 on down the list. The Massey-Harris 
 Company are not going to leave this 
 country. If they would sign a contract 
 tonight that they would leave Canada 
 $3,000,000 could be placed into that busi- 
 ness tomorrow morning. 
 
 Some of you have great difficulties to 
 contend with. You have left comfortable 
 homes and happy firesides and you have 
 gone up into that cold and once barren 
 West where but a few years since the white 
 man was not known. When I was a" boy 
 the immigration agents of the United 
 States were endeavoring to get settlers 
 from the British Isles and they had maps 
 printed to show to the yokels of that 
 country. Those maps were beautifully 
 colored and south of the 49th parallel 
 there were green fields and smiling or- 
 chards, and north of that line icebergs 
 and polar bears. Is it any wonder that 
 that country was kept back? It was left 
 to you sturdy men with your honesty 
 and your industry to make that country 
 known to the whole world, until today the 
 eyes of every nation is upon it and it is 
 known as the greatest country that any 
 nation or any empire ever had. Gentle- 
 men, you are on the right track. I be- 
 lieve the destinies of this Dominion can 
 be safely left in the hands of an intelligent 
 people such as I see before me here, and 
 I fell satisfied that if they endorse a parti- 
 cular course of action, that course is not 
 very far wrong (loud applause and three 
 cheers for Ontario). 
 
NIAGARA FRUIT GROWERS' PROTEST 
 
 E. C. Drury, secretary: I have a 
 telegram here from the Niagara Fruit 
 Growers. As I have said, they are not 
 altogether in accord with what we are 
 going to ask for in the matter of the tariff. 
 But I would point out that they have not 
 taken the proper steps to bring this 
 matter before us. The Dominion Grange 
 was open to all farmers and their delegates 
 would have been welcomed there. If 
 they had been there I am satisfied that 
 we would have been able to show them that 
 what we are asking for would not really 
 be detrimental to their interests. They 
 are not here today, but I have this tele- 
 gram from them and I will read it. 
 
 " St. Catherines, Ont. 
 Dec. 15th, 1910. 
 Chairman Canadian Council of 
 Agriculture, 
 Grand Opera House, Ottawa. 
 
 A large meeting of the Niagara Penin- 
 sula Fruit Growers' Association held in 
 this city today, the following resolution 
 was unanimously adopted: 
 
 Resolved, that whereas, the United 
 States government have made overtures 
 to this country for reciprocical trade 
 relations, and, whereas, a large delegation 
 of those interested in products of the soil 
 is now in session at Ottawa with the ob- 
 ject of petitioning the government for 
 the removal or the substantial lowering 
 of the tariff against United States pro- 
 ducts; 
 
 And, whereas, the tariff of the United 
 States against Canadian products is in the 
 aggregate greatly in excess against them, 
 resulting in some cases to the detriment 
 of the Canadian grower; 
 
 And, whereas, the present Canadian 
 tariff has on the whole proved satisfactory 
 to the upbuilding of our fruit industries 
 and the same if continued will develop 
 them to the advantage of the country 
 as a whole; 
 
 Therefore, it is the opinion of this asso- 
 ciation that any reciprocal treaty with the 
 United States be given the most serious 
 consideration and that only done after 
 consultation with the official representa- 
 tives of our fruit industries, and that in 
 regard to each and every other industry 
 they should be consulted and their respec- 
 tive bearings upon each other be fully 
 considered and that in the final adjust- 
 ment of any tariff with the United States 
 that all possible preference be given to the 
 mother country. 
 
 (Sgd.) C. E. FISHER, Sec'y 
 Niagara Peninsula Fruit Growers' Assn." 
 f) Mr. Drury: — The views set forth in 
 this telegram differ from our resolution, 
 but I think it is due to misapprehension. 
 They appear ^_to think that we^desire 
 
 to open the markets of Canada to the 
 producers of the United States_ without 
 any compensating advantage being given 
 to the producers on this side. They also 
 seem to have the idea that there is going 
 to be a reciprocal treaty entered into, 
 but there is no such thing as a reciprocal 
 treaty before this meeting or before the 
 country. 
 
 NEtf BRUNSWI K INTERESTED 
 
 S. B. Hathaway, Frederickton, N.B. — 
 I wish to thank those who have spoken 
 before for expressing so well the sen- 
 timents I feel and which all the farm- 
 ers of New Brunswick feel. I -assure 
 you the question of reciprocity is one 
 in which the farmers of New Bruns- 
 wick are deeply interested. The prod- 
 ucts of New Brunswick are hay, pota- 
 toes and turnips, and they are things 
 that we require the United States mar- 
 ket for. It is necessary for us to have 
 these markets. We feel we are not 
 under any obligation to the United 
 States. For potatoes we have been 
 forced to seek other markets and in 
 that way it makes it impossible for 
 the New Brunswick farmer to make a 
 profit, but if we had the market of 
 the United States we would be able 
 to increase our production and our profit 
 greatly. On hay we have to pay a 
 duty of $4 to get into the United 
 States. We consider that any change 
 in the tariff would be greatly of benefit 
 to our farmers. I cannot say any more, 
 except to thank you gentlemen for ex- 
 pressing our sentiments so well. A 
 little has been done in raising this 
 question, and that has been done in 
 Quebec. At the same time when we 
 came to the people who are deeply 
 interested in protection we find it is 
 necessary to revise the tariff to make 
 the conditions what they used to be, 
 and we know that whatever changes 
 are made will be of tremendous benefit 
 to the old province of New Brunswick. 
 (Applause and cheering). 
 
 ONTARIO FRUIT GROWERS 
 
 Jos. E. Johnston, Simcoe, Ont., Man- 
 ager of the Norfolk Fruit Growers' 
 Association: — Chairman and Gentlemen: 
 — I am certainly very glad to meet with 
 you here today. As I thought only a 
 few moments ago, I don't think we 
 meet often enough. You take the On- 
 tario people here today; they talk over 
 the subject of the Eastern and Western 
 Provinces. About the only thing John- 
 ston will say is he is an apple man. 1 
 may say about all I know is the appl^ 
 
 10 
 
business. I do know that we as apple 
 growers here in the province of Ontario 
 have not been justly dealt with and I 
 think you will all agree with me when 
 I explain to you my reason for saying 
 so. At the present time if we wish to 
 ship a barrel of apples into the United 
 States market it is necessary that there 
 is a duty paid of 75 cents per barrel. 
 If the United States wishes to ship a 
 barrel of apples into Canada they only 
 have to pay a duty of 40 cents per bar- 
 rel. Is that right? No. It is not jus- 
 tice that it should be that way. Now, 
 we have got to be broad upon this sub- 
 ject. There may be certain sections in 
 Ontario where they do not feel this 
 duty. This is a broad subject. We 
 must not be selfish in this way. We 
 ask you as Westerners to co-operate 
 with us in this connection in seeing 
 that this duty is lowered down to an 
 equal basis. As I said, the apple busi- 
 ness is 'all I know about. I have been 
 instrumental in my own little way in 
 making up this association. This year 
 we have produced five times as many 
 apples as we did five years ago, "and 
 this year is a small crop year. We want 
 to grow apples in Ontario to meet with 
 the call in the West, and I am sure, as 
 our brother stated, Nova Scotia is going 
 to show you a great advance in the 
 next few years, and the province of 
 Ontario is going to show a great ad- 
 vancement, and the West is going to 
 show great advancement, but we have 
 got to co-operate together. 
 
 DIRECT TAXATION 
 
 B. A. Partridge, Sintaluta, Sask.: 
 — (Amid 'applause) — Mr. Chairman and 
 Gentlemen: — I want to express to you 
 my heartfelt gratitude to you for the 
 manner in which you have received me. 
 I have been, to the best of my ability, 
 for years trying to help the farmers in 
 the West, and it does my heart good 
 at this time to be received in the man- 
 ner in which you have been pleased to 
 receive me. I take it as a great honor 
 to be permitted to address you. ' I be- 
 lieve that we have made tremendous 
 strides in education, in knowledge, and 
 I believe that one of the best proofs of 
 this advance in knowledge is the recep- 
 tion we have given this free trade reso- 
 lution at this time. Arguments are not 
 necessary. It would be simply a waste 
 of time for me to attempt to impress 
 upon you what this means to us. How- 
 ever, I would like to be permitted to 
 say something about the alternatives 
 which would be forced upon us. In 
 
 trying to eliminate the revenue now de- 
 rived from the customs we have got to 
 find some other way for supporting our 
 government. There is no doubt that 
 this is their method of raising revenue 
 for the country. Now, there is no ex- 
 cuse, it appears to me, for protection 
 which is given to one at the expense of 
 another. We do not wish to give pro- 
 tection to the strong at the expense of 
 the weak. That is very undesirable. 
 
 I do not think it is necessary for me 
 to make reference to protection any 
 further than to enlarge 'a little upon 
 the effect. It would appeal pretty 
 strongly to the people who live upon 
 the earnings of the farm, if they could 
 add something to the comfort and en- 
 richment of the lives of those who toil. 
 We find that the employers are still in 
 competition with the workmen, but we 
 do not find that higher wages are paid. 
 Assume that the effect of tariff is to 
 raise the wages of the employees. Sup- 
 pose a person to be employed in the 
 manufacture of shoes; it is the employer 
 who gets the protection and you pay 
 more for the shoes, and even the em- 
 ployee, who makes the shoes, has to 
 pay more for them. So he finds that 
 the price of every article is raised, and 
 though he gets higher wages, it will 
 not go so far as the smaller wages. 
 Supposing the government would lower 
 our tariff, what would be the result? It 
 appears to me the effect would be still 
 beneficial. Our manufacturers would 
 still find they were able to hold their 
 own. In the first place it seems to me 
 there has been a woeful commercialism. 
 The manufacturer in other years was 
 looking at it from the narrow -stand- 
 point. He said: If there is $1 out of 
 one loom, I can make $2 out of two, 
 and $3 out of three, and so on without 
 regard to the interest of trade, and he 
 enlarges and enlarges as much as he 
 can. 
 
 But if we examine the conditions in 
 which we find them our manufacturers 
 would be exposed to a hostile tariff 
 from a foreign country and our own 
 people be induced to tax themselves by 
 way of a tariff on foreign goods. This 
 then would mean that while our manu- 
 facturers-would be at 'a disadvantage, 
 his competitor would not sell goods at 
 less than cost. If he did, he would not 
 keep it up very long. If the manufac- 
 turers, of other countries will persist 
 in selling goods below that, I guess we 
 can stand it as long as they can. We 
 have raw materials in abundance, and 
 our manufacturers have the advantage 
 of the freight rates so they ought to be 
 able to hold their own. On the other 
 
 21 
 
hand, the. workmen, who are employed 
 in the protected country, must receive 
 higher wages in order to pay for their 
 living, while on this side if the wages 
 paid by the manufacturers were lower, 
 since everything came in in abundance, 
 these smaller wages would go further, 
 so that looking at it from every side 
 we cannot see a shred of reason for pro- 
 tection and the tariff no matter what 
 any other country may do, while in the 
 ease of reciprocity there is absolutely 
 nothing but a fallacious argument that 
 can be put up against us. I would like 
 to speak just before sitting down for 
 the alternatives that may be forced 
 upon us by reason of free trade. How 
 shall we raise this revenue! It was 
 said by a celebrated statesman of Great 
 Britain that by indirect taxation the 
 people could be taxed to rags and then 
 the rags could be taxed without com- 
 plaint, because they did not know they 
 were being taxed. That may have been 
 all right at the time of that statement, 
 but it does not apply to the intelligent 
 people of Canada. 
 
 The alternative as I see it, 'and I only 
 give it as a suggestion, and we have 
 to educate ourselves along these lines 
 and try to form public opinion so that 
 when the time comes we may form our 
 propositions along the line of equality. 
 My opinion is that the yroper way is 
 to place it upon land values. When we 
 speak of that some of the farmers seem 
 to think that by that system the farmer 
 would pay all the taxes and that the 
 people in the cities would not pay any- 
 thing, but I think it is proved by sta- 
 tistics that the farmers would suffer 
 least. ■ Suppose we examine a little 
 into the conditions with respect to the 
 taxation of land. In the city of Win- 
 nipeg, a city of very little over 100,000 
 people, it was found last year 
 that apart from improvements and 
 allowing for $13,000,000 of exemp- 
 tions, the assessment was $118,- 
 000,000. Now let us see what would be 
 the value of farm lands in Manitoba. 
 It is generally assumed, of course, that 
 all the land in the country is held by 
 the farmers. I was going along the 
 road, however, the other day with a 
 farmer and we were passing a very nice 
 looking piece of land. I asked him 
 whose it was and he said: "Well, it 
 belongs to me and the loan company, 
 mostly the loan company." That rep- 
 resents the situation very closely. We 
 might divide the land-owning class into 
 the farmer and the land speculator. An- 
 other type is the landlord who simply 
 rents out the land to others. Personally 
 I have not any particular sympathy 
 
 with the landlord, but under present 
 economic conditions that is about the 
 only way in which the retired man can 
 invest his money to secure a revenue. 
 However, other economic conditions will 
 arise. Then there is the tenant. He 
 will not be exposed to this taxation. 
 Then there are the persons who have 
 purchased land on long payments and 
 who only in a small degree own the land 
 they have purchased, and these would 
 only be taxed to that extent. But you 
 will say there is that peculiarity about 
 capitalism that the capitalist can al- 
 ways shift the burden of taxation so 
 that the purchaser and the mortgagee 
 would pay the taxation in the form of 
 additional interest. Such conditions 
 arose in the newer countries whieh ac- 
 cepted land values as the basis of taxa- 
 tion, in New Zealand, Australia, and 
 they are popular governments, by the 
 way, governments that are representa- 
 tive of the people. The government there 
 advanced money at low rates of interest 
 te the farmers in order that they might 
 pay- off the loans to the owners so that 
 they would be placed on an equitable 
 footing. If taxation were based upon 
 land values we should find that the citi- 
 zens of Winnipeg would pay at least 
 one-half the taxation of that province, 
 that is to say that the farmers would 
 only pay a reasonable 'amount of the 
 taxes. And when we come to the prov- 
 inces which have natural resources such 
 as timber and minerals, these things 
 would also be made to bear some of the 
 taxation, so that the farmer would not 
 be unduly taxed. And that would 
 break a most malicious system by which 
 men often get monopolies of God 's 
 bounties, often by grants from govern- 
 ments. That kind of thing has got to 
 be eliminated some time or other. You 
 farmers, if you were to get into an ad- 
 vanced economic condition so that you 
 would get a rich revenue from "the 
 things you sell, what would be the prac- 
 tical result so long as these natural re- 
 sources would be in- the hands of mon- 
 opoly? It would simply mean that by 
 joining hands they would be able to 
 artificially raise the price of commodi- 
 ties, tariff or no tariff. They would 
 simply say to themselves: "These men 
 have one or two hundred dollars a year 
 more, and now it is up to us to put 
 prices up to the point where we may 
 take that money which would otherwise 
 have gone to enrich the lives of the 
 farming community." I want to put 
 the entering wedge into the thought of 
 these fundamental principles so that 
 we may in the future be able to evolve 
 a better system of taxation. (Applause). 
 
 22 
 
FARMERS' MEMORIALS 
 
 . Copies of Addresses and Resolutions 
 Presented to the Dominion 
 Government 
 
 NOTE— At 10.10 a.m. on December 16, 1910, the presentation of 
 the farmers' case to Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the members of his govern- 
 ment and the members of the House of Commons began. Sir Wilfrid 
 occupied the chair of the Clerk of the House, and at his left sat Sir 
 Richard Cartwright. At the premier's right sat D. W. McCuaig, 
 B. C. Drury and R. McKenzie. Mr. McCuaig introduced the delegation, 
 read the various resolutions and called upon the various speakers to 
 support them. 
 
 In opening the meeting Mr. McCuaig spoke as follows : 
 
 Bight Honorable Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 
 Premier. of Canada — 
 
 I am here this morning 'as President 
 of the Canadian Council of Agriculture. 
 We have met on this occasion, Sir Wil- 
 frid to present some of our views to 
 you and to your government. We have, 
 met as » delegation representing the 
 different provinces of the Dominion of 
 Canada. We have in this organization, 
 the Canadian Council of Agriculture, the 
 different farmers ' organizations 
 throughout the Dominion of Canada. We 
 have representatives here today from 
 New Brunswick Nova Scotia, Quebec, 
 Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan 'and 
 Alberta. I think you will agree with 
 me, Sir, that it is something out of 
 the usual. You have no doubt in the 
 past received many delegations from 
 year to year, but I think I am quite safe 
 in saying that this is the first organized 
 delegation that you have received from 
 the farmers of the Dominion of Canada. 
 We have met to present to you some 
 of those requests that we have to make 
 to your government. I might say that 
 if you will look around and see the 
 delegation that we have here you will 
 see a large number of men who have 
 come here at this time at great expense 
 and in many cases with a great deal 
 of inconvenience. But we felt justified 
 in incurring this expense and this in- 
 convenience to show you, Sir, that we 
 are in earnest in our requests; that we 
 have been willing to incur this incon- 
 venience and this expense to show you 
 and your government that we are in 
 earnest in what we are asking. Seeing 
 
 that we have a limited time at our 
 disposal to place all these matters before 
 you, it would be rather out of place 
 for me to take up any of your valuable 
 time. I have, however, to thank you, 
 Sir, for this opportunity for the organ- 
 ized farmers of Canada to meet you in 
 this manner and to be able to present 
 these things to you. 
 
 Terminal Elevators 
 
 The first matter that we wish to call 
 your attention to this morning is in 
 regard to the terminal elevators that 
 are handling our grain from the West. 
 I will read to you a resolution that is 
 provided by the Canadian Council of 
 Agriculture and submitted yesterday to 
 a mass meeting of all the delegates here. 
 We presented all these rsolutions to all 
 th delegates at that mass meeting, and 
 without a dissenting voice they have 
 assented to those resolutions. We have 
 them now in order, signed by the Presi- 
 dent and Secretary of the Council to 
 show you the united voice of the 
 farmers from Nova Scotia to Alberta. 
 This resolution is as follows: 
 
 Resolution 
 
 "Whereas, we are convinced that 
 terminal elevators as now operated are 
 detrimental to the interests of both the 
 producer and consumer, as proved by 
 recent investigation and testimony of 
 important interested bodies, we there- 
 fore request that the Dominion govern- 
 ment acquire and operate as a public 
 utility under an independent commis- 
 sion the terminal elevators of Fort 
 William and Port Arthur, and immedi- 
 
 23 
 
ately establish similar terminal facili- 
 ties and conditions at the Pacific coast, 
 and provide the same at Hudson's Bay 
 
 when necessary; also such transfer and 
 other elevators necessary to safeguard 
 the quality of export grain." 
 
 In support of this I will now call upon Mr. Peter Wright, from 
 Myrtle, Manitoba, a Director of the Manitoba Grain Growers' Associa- 
 tion; a Member of the Executive of the Manitoba Grain Growers' Asso- 
 ciation and of the Canadian Council of Agriculture. 
 
 Mr. Wright's Address 
 
 To the Eight Honorable Sir Wilfrid 
 Laurier, Prime Minister of Canada; 
 the Members of the Government 
 and the Members of the House of 
 Commons — 
 
 The matter with which I have been 
 entrusted in behalf of the farmers of 
 the West is that pertaining to the term- 
 inal elevators. We have already sub- 
 mitted this matter to the Honorable, the 
 premier, and some other members of the 
 government who accompanied the prem- 
 ier when on his Western tour during 
 the past summer, and we would not 
 insult these gentlemen by inferring that 
 they do not understand all about the 
 matter, or that they are not convinced 
 that the request of the Western farmers 
 with respect to the terminal elevators 
 is only right and just, but we are aware 
 to secure the legislation we believe to 
 be necessary, the majority of this house 
 must be convinced of the justice of our 
 request, and that is the reason why we 
 are here today; so we hope, sir, that you 
 and those who are familiar with this 
 matter will bear with us while we pre- 
 sent some statements and arguments 
 bearing on the terminal eelvator situa- 
 tion. 
 
 Finest Wheat In World 
 
 The principal marketable production 
 of the Western farmer is wheat, and the 
 quality of our climate and soil is such 
 that we have acquired the reputation 
 of producing the finest wheat in the 
 world, and in such vast and ever in- 
 creasing quantities that Western Can- 
 ada has been called "The Granary of 
 the British Empire.' In its progress to 
 the markets of the world all Western 
 wheat must pass through the terminal 
 elevators at Fort William or Port Ar- 
 thur. Considerable mystery and secrecy 
 has always surrounded the terminal ele- 
 vators and their operation, but the 
 farmers of the West have been for a 
 long time convinced that their grain in 
 passing through these elevators has "been 
 subjected to a system of manipulation 
 
 and exploitation which, while tending 
 to augment the profits of the elevator 
 companies, has had the effect of depre- 
 ciating very largely the value, the price 
 and the reputation of our wheat. 
 
 Be Manipulation 
 
 As we wish to be absolutely fair in 
 our statements, we would say that the 
 C.P.B. terminals have never been 
 charged with indulging in this manipu- 
 lation, and there may be other excep- 
 tions, but the exception strongly con- 
 firms our conviction, as the Eastern 
 millers tell us that wheat obtained 
 through the C.P.B. terminals is worth 
 considerably more for milling purposes 
 than that of the same grade obtained 
 through privately owned or operated 
 houses. 
 
 The grain trade is regulated by the 
 "Manitoba Grain Act" and the "Grain 
 Inspection Act." These acts provide 
 that "all grains passing through Win- 
 nipeg inspection district to points East 
 thereof shall be graded according to 
 quality." It is further provided that 
 "All grain shipped for Eastern points 
 from any public elevator within the 
 division shall be shipped only as graded 
 into such elevators by the inspecting 
 oScer. " All grain of the same grade 
 shall be kept together, and stored only 
 with grain of a similar grade; and even 
 a selection of the different qualities of 
 the same grade is prohibited. "If 
 grain of different grades is loaded to- 
 gether in the same compartment of a 
 vessel, a certificate of such mixed cargo 
 shall be issued with a statement of the 
 quantities of each grade entering into 
 the composition of such mixed cargo"." 
 And ' ' the certificate of inspection given 
 by inspecting officers shall in all cases 
 accompany the grain to its destina- 
 tion." 
 
 Inspectors of No Avail 
 
 But, notwithstanding these regula- 
 tions, and the fact also that the term- 
 inal elevators are under the supervision 
 
 24 
 
of a large body of government officials, 
 we believe that the owners and opera- 
 tors of these elevators find means and 
 opportunities to manipulate our grain 
 to their advantage and to our disad- 
 vantage. In support of this belief we 
 have the evidence already quoted that 
 grain produced through the C.P.E. term- 
 inals is of higher milling quality than 
 that obtained through some others. But 
 the most convincing evidence is that 
 afforded by the investigation made by 
 the officials of this government during 
 last winter, which resulted in three 
 terminal elevator companies being con- 
 victed of having made false returns 
 regarding the amounts of wheat con- 
 tained in the different grades, and their 
 being fined to the amount of $5,500. 
 According to the report of Mr. Castle, 
 warehouse commissioner, of this inves- 
 tigation, the overplus of 1 Northern 
 wheat over the amount received of that 
 grade by two elevators amounted to 
 1,035,786 bushels, while the shortage in 
 2 Northern wheat, 3 Northern and No. 
 4 Northern amounted to 832,806 bush- 
 els, leaving nearly 203,000 bushels of 
 No. 1 Northern still unaccounted for, 
 and to which I will refer later. A com- 
 putation based on these figures and on 
 the prices of the different grades of 
 wheat on a certain date, and the spread 
 between these prices shows that the 
 profits of these two elevator companies 
 were increased by this manipulation to 
 the extent of $35,000. And in this con- 
 nection we would respectfully submit 
 that the punishment imposed is alto- 
 gether inadequate to the enormity of 
 the offence, and not likely to prove a 
 deterrent from a continuance of these 
 practices when, after deducting the 
 amount of the fines, they still have a 
 profit in the neighborhood of $30,000, 
 and that for a period of only about 
 three months' operation. 
 
 Another Aspect 
 
 But there is another aspect to this 
 matter which is a good deal more seri- 
 ous than any illegitimate profits made 
 and which has a far-reaching effect. 
 The government inspector is supposed 
 to grade our wheat according to the 
 amount of gluten and other ingredients 
 it contains, which is required to make 
 the best flour, and the value of our 
 different grades of wheat is based on 
 the presence or otherwise of these in- 
 gredients, or, as it is commonly spoken 
 of, "The value of our wheat depends 
 on its milling qualities," but it de- 
 pends on its qualities not as it is in- 
 spected at Winnipeg, but on its quali- 
 ties as it is placed on the British or 
 
 the ultimate markets, wherever they 
 may be. And if, as has been proved, 
 each grade of our wheat is brought 
 down to the lowest point by the mixing 
 of wheat of lower grades (and we be- 
 lieve it is often brought below it, that 
 is, it is allowed to pass out of the term- 
 inal elevators with the minimum point 
 of each grade lower than it would be 
 allowed to pass the inspector at Win- 
 nipeg), if this is so it will be readily 
 understood that the value and the repu- 
 tation of our wheat on the British mar- 
 ket is re-graded also, and as the British 
 miller can only afford to pay for wheat 
 according to its milling value, the price 
 is reduced, and being reported back to 
 us, becomes the basis of our market 
 here, and we have to accept a price 
 based on the lowest point of each grade 
 instead of on the average as it should 
 be, which means a difference of about 
 two cents per bushel. 
 
 Only One Means 
 
 But we have reason to believe that 
 the manipulation of grades is only one 
 of the means used by these elevator 
 companies to swell their revenue and 
 by which our wheat is degraded in 
 value and reputation. The ' ' Grain Act ' ' 
 provides that all grain passing through 
 the terminal elevator shall be cleaned. 
 The amount of dockage is set by the 
 inspector, and the percentage named by 
 him is deducted from eaeh car; and as 
 the grade very often depends upon the 
 amount of dockage, it is very important, 
 if justice is to be done, that the in- 
 spector's instructions in this respect 
 should be strictly carried out. Now, 
 we have reason to believe that much of 
 the wheat passing through the term- 
 inals is not cleaned to grade. No doubt 
 there are large quantities of screenings 
 cleaned out, and we know that large 
 profits are derived from this source. We 
 notice in the public papers recently that 
 shipments of these screenings had been 
 made to points in the United States, 
 a? id we know also that large flocks of 
 sheep have been fed from screenings 
 taken from our wheat; but besides this, 
 we believe that when the dockage im- 
 posed by the inspector is not too heavy, 
 it is allowed to go through as they re- 
 ceive it. It is generally understood that 
 when the dockage does not exceed 1 
 per cent, or in some cases 2 per cent, 
 there is enough clean wheat to absorb 
 that amount without being noticed, but 
 for every 60 pounds of screenings al- 
 lowed to pass through in this way the 
 elevator companies get paid for a bushel 
 of wheat. They get paid for the dock- 
 age which the farmer loses and has 
 
 25 
 
to pay freight on to the terminals, and 
 in consequence the British miller has to 
 pay for these screenings at the price 
 of wheat, and in this way the value and 
 reputation of our wheat is still further 
 degraded.' And I believe that the fact 
 that a portion of the screenings is in 
 this way allowed to figure as wheat will 
 to some extent account for the dis- 
 crepancy between the overplus in No. 
 1 Northern and the shortage in the 
 lower grades as per Mr. Castle's report 
 already referred to. 
 
 Other Wheats Sell Higher 
 
 We have been led to believe that 
 Western Canada produced the best 
 wheat in the world, and we have been 
 very proud of our reputation in this 
 respect. But we have noticed during 
 the last two years that at certain per- 
 iods there were other wheats whieh 
 have commanded higher prices on the 
 Liverpool market, and we believe this 
 may be largely accounted for by the de- 
 grading of our wheat in the terminal 
 elevators to the minimum point, and 
 the retention in it of dockage, as I 
 have described. 
 
 But there is still another breach of 
 trust of which we believe these elevator 
 companies are guilty. It seems that 
 they are in the habit of loaning quan- 
 tities of our wheat which has been en- 
 trusted to their care, to shippers to 
 make out their cargoes. One of the 
 companies involved in the investiga- 
 tion already mentioned pleaded guilty 
 to this charge in trying to account for 
 the discrepancy in the lower grades of 
 wheat. Now we believe that this is a 
 violation of both the letter and the 
 spirit of the "Grain Act." Farmers 
 are sometimes compelled by circum- 
 stances to ship grain when they would 
 rather hold it. Some of us have not 
 granary room, or we may have to haul 
 it out when roads are good or weather 
 suitable. Having shipped from our 
 local shipping point, we sometimes dis- 
 cover that prices have dropped below 
 what we care to sell at, and we decide 
 to hold till a rise in price. Well, we 
 may think we are holding it, and we 
 are being charged storage for it, and 
 possibly we may get a rise in prices, 
 but all the while our wheat may be 
 helping to flood the Old Country mar- 
 kets and defeating the purpose for 
 which we wished to hold it. 
 
 Change Long Needed 
 
 The Grain Growers' Associations of 
 the West have for over three years 
 been trying to convince this govern- 
 
 ment of the necessity of some change 
 in the method of operating these eleva- 
 tors, so as to remove the evils which 
 exist in this connection, but up to the 
 present time you have only responded 
 by granting increased supervision and 
 inspection; and while we give you 
 credit for being sineere in your efforts 
 to better conditions, we believe, and we 
 say this without any reflection on any 
 officials of the government, that no- 
 amount of supervision or inspeeetion 
 can effectually prevent manipulation in 
 our terminals so long as they are owned 
 and operated by private interests which 
 can be benefitted thereby. We believe 
 that nothing short of government own- 
 ership and operation will put a stop 
 to these mal-praetices and ensure to us 
 that justice and straight dealing which 
 will lift our terminal elevators from 
 the position of distrust and suspicion 
 which they have occupied and restore 
 in them a feeling of trust and confi- 
 dence in the minds of the Western 
 farmers. 
 
 We would therefore recommend that 
 the Dominion government take steps 
 to acquire and operate the terminal ele- 
 vators as a public utility. And we 
 would further recommend that they be 
 placed in charge of a commission of 
 capable and reliable men who shall be 
 independent of government control; 
 governed by statute rather than by any 
 minister of the government; answer- 
 able to a majority of the parliament, 
 and so incorporated that they shall be 
 capable of suing and being sued. Now, 
 it is not from lack of confidence in 
 the present government that we ask 
 for these previsions, but to safeguard 
 our terminal elevator system and the 
 interests of all parties concerned for 
 all time against any government or 
 member of a government who might 
 desire to use this system for their own 
 or party ends and interests; and spe- 
 cially to safeguard against the system 
 being injured or discredited by miscon- 
 structions and imputations made against 
 the motives and actions of the govern- 
 ment in power by the oposition, which- 
 ever party may be in power, and which- 
 ever party may be in opposition, human 
 nature being what it is, these miscon- 
 structions and imputations will be made 
 wherever there is the smallest visible 
 motive for wrong-doing, even if no 
 wrong is dene, and will always gain 
 more or less credence. 
 
 Millers Not Satisfied 
 Farmers are not alone in making 
 these requests. Eastern millers are not 
 satisfied with conditions as they are, 
 
 26 
 
and would welcome the change. A 
 large number of commission men, inde- 
 pendent grain dealers and exporters of 
 Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal, have 
 also made the same request, indeed all 
 parties concerned, with the exception of 
 the owners and operators of these ele- 
 vators, join with us in making this 
 recommendation. 
 
 In asking the government to take 
 over and operate the terminal elevators 
 we do not consider that we are seeking 
 & favor of any sort; we only want a 
 square deal. The "Inspection Act" 
 insofar as it applies to the farmer, has 
 been rigidly enforced, and we make 
 no complaint in that respect; but how- 
 ever good the intentions of the govern- 
 ment and its officials have been, they 
 have failed to enforce the law in pro- 
 tection of his interests in the terminal 
 ■elevators. 
 
 We do not expect that these elevators 
 under the system we suggest shall be- 
 come chargeable to the consolidated 
 revenue of the Dominion. Our wheat 
 has always had to pay its way, and as 
 we believe and have tried to show, has 
 paid a considerable amount of undue 
 "toll, and we are willing that it should 
 ■continue to pay its way, that a suffi- 
 cient charge should be made to pay 
 for the operation of the elevators, and 
 to pay off the purchase price within a 
 reasonable time. We are of the opin- 
 ion that the charges in the elevators at 
 -the lake front are too high at the pres- 
 ent time, being considerably higher 
 than those of elevators on the other 
 aide of the lakes. But we would not 
 ask for a reduction until sufficient time 
 has elapsed to show by practical ex- 
 perience what charge is necessary to 
 cover all expenses. 
 
 Officials Could Be Used 
 
 We understand that at the present 
 time there is a large staff of govern- 
 ment officials, employed in supervising 
 the operation of the elevators who, if 
 our recommendation was adopted, could 
 be employed in the actual operation, 
 and a considerable saving would be 
 ■effected by thus avoiding the duplica- 
 tion of employees. 
 
 It has been suggested that a change 
 in our laws to make our terminal eleva- 
 tors conform to those at Duluth would 
 meet all the objections that have been 
 made to the manner in which they are 
 operated at present. The only differ- 
 ence between our terminal elevators and 
 those operated under the Minnesota law 
 is that under the Minnesota law private 
 ■elevators are allowed to operate and 
 
 that special binning is permitted in the 
 state elevators. Such a condition of 
 affairs in our terminals would accentu- 
 ate rather than alleviate the conditions 
 that exist. The president of the North 
 Dakota State Union of the Society of 
 Equity, one of the largest farmers' 
 organizations in the grain producing 
 States, says of the Minnesota terminals: 
 ' ' Our system of terminals is simply 
 owned and controlled by the interests 
 and we have nothing to say in the mat- 
 ter. To give you a little idea as to the 
 loss sustained I might say that we are 
 shipping our grain with foul seeds and 
 mixed grains — because facilities are not 
 at hand for separating same — to the 
 terminals and pay the freight on all 
 the foul seeds or oats or flax that may 
 be in the wheat and then we give them 
 all but that grain in the name of which 
 it is shipped." Again he says: "They 
 buy our hard wheat at from No. 1 to 
 No. 4, mix same with the wheat from 
 the Southern or Eastern States, which 
 is much inferior to ours, and after it 
 is mixed the records show that they 
 ship out more No. 1 than they took in." 
 It is quite evident that a change to 
 this condition would not improve mat- 
 ters for us. 
 
 Applies to Others 
 
 All we have said in regard to the 
 elevators at Port William and Port 
 Arthur applies equally to elevators that 
 must be constructed in the near future 
 at Hudson 's Bay and particularly at 
 Pacific coast terminals. The reasons 
 are even more urgent in respect to 
 Pacific coast than have been advanced 
 for acquiring those at Port William and 
 Port Arthur. The reasonable and logi- 
 cal way for the grain produced in Al- 
 berta and even in the western portion 
 of Saskatchewan to find its market is 
 via what has been termed the "Western 
 route." The Western development that 
 is bound to take place in British Co- 
 lumbia in the next decade assures us 
 that a very large portion of the farm 
 products of Alberta will find a market 
 in this province. -The completion of the 
 Panama Canal and also the erection of 
 proper facilities on the Tehuantepec 
 Railway which is bound to come means 
 that a great deal of our Western Can- 
 ada grain will find its Euorpean mar- 
 ket via the Pacific coast. The Pacific 
 coast has open ports all the year. There 
 is good reason for believing that an 
 effort is being made at the present time 
 to create Terminal Elevator companies 
 at Vancouver which promises even 
 worse conditions than exist at Port Ar- 
 thur today. It is the imperative duty 
 
 27 
 
of the government to prevent this by 
 taking immediate steps to provide the 
 necessary facilities for the handling of 
 grain at the Pacific coast in sneh a way 
 that the smallest dealer and the largest 
 elevator owner are upon an equality in 
 the advantages they can secure from it. 
 There is no reason whatever for per- 
 mitting a condition of things to grow 
 up in Vancouver that will be worse in 
 effect than what we have been com- 
 plaining of in the Eastern route to our 
 markets. 
 
 Western Canada has been contribut- 
 ing largely to the needs of the world 
 in supplying it with the ' ' staff of life, ' ' 
 and in that way has been adding ma- 
 terially to the wealth and prosperity of 
 Canada; but while the West produces 
 great wealth in the shape of food prod- 
 
 ucts, it has as yet very few manufac- 
 turing industries, and we look princi- 
 pally to the East for our supply of 
 manufactured articles. So that, what- 
 ever you can do to secure the Western 
 farmer a square deal, increases his 
 purchasing power and will benefit and 
 increase the prosperity of the East as 
 
 well as the West. 
 
 We hope we have shown sufficient 
 cause why this government should 
 accede to the request of the Western 
 Grain Growers' Associations, and we 
 respectfully urge that during the pres- 
 ent session of parliament a measure of 
 legislation be passed providing that 
 the Terminal Elevators be acquired and 
 operated by the Dominion government 
 under an independent commission. 
 
 D. W. AieCuaig :— The next I will call on is Mr. F. W. Green, 
 Secretary of the Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association, and also 
 a member of the Canadian Council of Agriculture. 
 
 Mr. Green's Address 
 
 Mr. Green: — To the Bight Honorable 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier Prime Minister 
 of Canada; the Members of the 
 Government, and the Members of 
 the House of Commons — 
 
 In speaking to the resolution let me say 
 that the part of this delegation that I 
 have the honor to represent is known as 
 The Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Asso- 
 ciation. This association was organized 
 on January 2nd, 1909, Honorable W. R. 
 Motherwell, now minister of agriculture 
 for Saskatchewan, occupied the chair. 
 The then deputy minister of agriculture, 
 Mr. C. W. Peterson, also took an active 
 part and in an address to the farmers said: 
 
 "Combination is the watchward of the 
 day. The various corporations against, 
 which the Grain Growers were pitted 
 had the most complete organization in the 
 world, and before farmers could make any 
 headway they would have to follow the 
 example of their rivals and present their 
 claims as an organized body." 
 
 Senator Perley, R. S. Lake and Hon. 
 Walter Scott were also prominent actors 
 at the early meetings of this association. 
 The constitution provided that its objects 
 should be: 
 
 (a) To forward the interest of the 
 Grain Growers in every honorable and 
 legitimate way; 
 
 (b) To watch legislation relating to 
 the Grain Growers' interests, particularly 
 that affecting the marketing, grading and 
 transportation of grain; 
 
 (c) To suggest to parliament from time 
 to time as is found necessary through 
 duly appointed delegates the passing 
 of any new legislation to meet changing 
 conditions and requirements. 
 
 It will thus be seen, gentlemen, that 
 this delegation is right in line with the 
 objects for which the Association was 
 formed. 
 
 Membership Growing 
 
 The Saskatchewan Association at the 
 present time numbers 10,000 members in 
 good standing, working in some three 
 hundred local associations in almost 
 cvt-ry pari of lite |»ruviuce with almost an 
 equal number in each of ihe other Western 
 provinces where Ihe various questions 
 brought forward have been discussed 
 freely during the ten vear.s of the associa- 
 tion's e*:isit'iice. The terminal elevator 
 que.-tioii is oi.ly one of the many phases 
 in the grain trade, which is very difficult 
 for the ordinary farmer to thoroughly 
 understand. 
 
 \\ e have the interior elevator system 
 with all the uncertainty of weight and 
 grade, and the various tricks resorted to 
 regarding car distribution, special binning 
 and shipping: then we have the grain 
 exchanges with the gambling, price-fixing, 
 problem-hedging, future selling, puts and 
 calls, shorts and longs, with the bulls and 
 bears. Then the difference of prices 
 between Minneapolis and Winnipeg, rang- 
 ing from ten to fifteen cents per bushel 
 for an inferior sample of wheat. This 
 
 28 
 
with their system of grading and sampling 
 all forming part of a complex system more 
 or less mysterious to our farmers, causing a 
 serious state of suspicion and unrest 
 which is an evil in itself, but none of these 
 Are responsible for more distrust and want 
 of confidence than the inspection system 
 in connection with our terminal elevators. 
 All these being inseparable each effected 
 fey the other, and as we think vitally 
 affecting the quality and price of every 
 bushel of grain grown in the West. Our 
 views, right or wrong, are the cause of our 
 agitation and action. 
 
 Government Well Informed 
 
 Doubtless the government has already 
 in their possession much more convincing 
 arguments than we can offer in support 
 of the resolution, as the warehouse com- 
 missioner's report will likely contain 
 information and data impossible for us 
 at this time to present. We can only say 
 this: "That nothing now can possibly 
 allay our fears but the complete removal 
 of all parties having a special interest 
 in the grain in the public bins of the nation 
 from their operation and control." 1 said: 
 "Public bins of the nation." This is 
 what wc think these terminal elevators 
 become when the government admits 
 the grain into these bins and gives the 
 farmer a receipt and guarantees to deliver 
 it to his customer under a certificate of 
 grade, and any system which gives to a 
 self-interested party the opportunity 
 for tampering with this grain after once 
 passing into the hands of the government, 
 as we believe the present one does, canuot 
 longer be tolerated by us. 
 
 As our grain passes Winnipeg it is 
 inspected and ordered to be cleaned to a 
 certain specified standard or ideal. For- 
 eign matters considered useless for the 
 purposes for which the different grades are 
 intended are ordered to be extracted. 
 The farmer being docked for it pays freight 
 and delivers it to the terminal elevators 
 absolutely free. If by any means these 
 grades inspected leaving the terminals 
 contain one per cent, of the dirt previously 
 ordered to be taken out someone isl.000- 
 000 bushels in weight ahead: if two per 
 cent, is left in they are 2,000,000 bushels 
 ahead. If the grain is worth one dollar 
 per bushel it is a prize worth striving for. 
 
 There are approximately some 100,000,- 
 000 bushels per annum delivered thus 
 to the terminal elevators at Fort William 
 and Port Arthur, having a dockage vary- 
 ing from nothing to twenty-five per cent 
 
 Pay By Quality 
 
 The English buyer receiving this grain 
 will pay just what it is worth to him as he 
 receives it. Buying by certificate his 
 price is based upon previous experience 
 
 and receipts under the same class of 
 document. If the commodity contains 
 two per cent, of dirt on a base price of 
 $1.00 per bushel of clean grain, he says: 
 "There is two per cent of dirt in this. 
 It is only worth 98 cents to me. It will 
 cost me one cent per bushel to extract it 
 and fit it for my rolls, so it is only worth 
 to me 97 cents. " This becomes the base 
 price of Canadian wheat which becomes 
 the price for the whole of Western Canada 
 and is three cents per bushel lower than 
 it would be if the grain reached England 
 in accordance with the ideal on which it 
 was inspected when taken from the farmer 
 by the government, or $3,000,000 on the 
 total; $2,000,000 of this loss would go into 
 the pockets of the terminal elevator men, 
 the balance to pay for the extraction of the 
 dirt in England, and for which the Cana- 
 dian farmer has already paid the terminal 
 elevator men at Fort William and Port 
 Arthur. The terminal elevator man does 
 not stop here, however, as there is a spread 
 of about three cents between the grades. 
 As he receives it he has the opportunity 
 if so inclined, to secure to himself the 
 difference between the average value of 
 the grade and the minimum quality ad- 
 mitted into it. Supposing No. 1 to be 
 composed of all wheat valued at 97 cents 
 to $1.00, the average wheat value would 
 therefore be 98)4 cents. If 97-cent wheat 
 is legally admitted into that grade going 
 into the public bins the elevator man 
 assumes that it may be legally delivered 
 out of the bins; if perchance he can get 
 it out and get it accepted as satisfactory, 
 all being 97-cent wheat, which is a per- 
 fectly legitimate grade according to the 
 standard established by the Grain Act, 
 and which the British buyer could be 
 compelled to take on certificate under 
 which authority the grain was placed in 
 the public bins; consequently perfectly 
 legal and up to the contract called for by 
 the inspection certificate. If the elevator 
 man can accomplish this he is a further 
 1><2 cent per bushel ahead, or $1,500,000 
 on the total output by this trimming from 
 the average to the minimum quality 
 allowed in the grade. The English buyer 
 bases his price on the quality received 
 under the inspection certification and 
 gives exactly what it is worth to him, 
 being a cent and a half per bushel less 
 than it would be if it went forward fully 
 up to the average. This, added to the 
 previously mentioned 8 cents per bushel, 
 makes a total of 4^4 cents per bushel 
 reduction in the value of the grain. It 
 may be objected that this would not be 
 an average grade — no, but a perfectly 
 legal one, and the chief inspector in sending 
 forward his standard sample to England 
 would not be likely to send one higher than 
 any grain that could be called a legal 
 
 29 
 
tender under the specified contract in the 
 Grain Act; in fact, he has said he does 
 not. 
 
 Temptations Exist 
 
 Our contention, therefore, is that this 
 opportunity and possibility exist, not only 
 for the deterioration of the intrinsic value 
 of our grade but for the retention of con- 
 siderable foreign matter, making a differ- 
 ence between the ideal of inspection as 
 delivered to the terminals and the actual 
 condition it is in when it reaches the 
 British miller, amounting to the 4j<£ cents 
 per bushel as previously stated, and vitaljy 
 effects the price of every bushel of grain 
 sold in the West. The question naturally 
 arises, if this opportunity is offered by 
 our system will the elevator operators 
 really take advantage of it? Do they 
 really do it? Are they so much inherently 
 better than other men that they are above 
 such things? In evidence taken before 
 the Saskatchewan elevator commission 
 this summer, the managers of different 
 institutions declared that they would, 
 and averred that they would be very 
 foolish if they did not. 
 
 A certain manager of an elevator 
 company said to us that a dealer would 
 certainly take advantage of a farmer if he 
 could, but he could not do it, he said, 
 as the farmer was too wide-awake for 
 him; but the farmer believes quite diff- 
 erently regarding the latter part of the 
 statement, the farmer being perfectly 
 helpless in this matter. 
 
 Mixing A Science 
 
 In the United States there are now 
 very many more private terminal elevators 
 than there are public terminal elevators. 
 This is true of Minneapolis, Chicago and 
 Kansas City, where they have sample 
 markets established, and the trade of 
 mixing, trimming and skinning is worked 
 into a regular science. This summer while 
 interviewing several managers of these 
 large firms, they told us of the skill and 
 perfection attained by their men in mixing 
 grain at these private terminals, and the 
 money they made at it. The corpora- 
 tions having control of some of the largest 
 of these mixing plants in the United States 
 now control and operate mostly all the 
 terminal elevators and facilities at Fort 
 William and Port Arthur, possessing the 
 most thorough understanding of the 
 mixing art. 
 
 The opportunity to carry on the busi- 
 ness is there and they say they will do it 
 if permitted. They have been fined 
 heavily already for doing so, and they 
 doubtless have done thousands of things 
 they were not fined for. The fine was 
 not returned to the people they robbed. 
 
 neither was the fine at all commensurate 
 with the plunderings carried on. 
 
 Mr. Horn has declared, as well as Mr. 
 Castle, that the grain trade of Western 
 Canada is now in the hands of large Ameri- 
 can operators, the inspection department 
 at Fort William also declared that they 
 were unable to cope with these men and 
 that inspection does not inspect; that 
 there seems little use in setting a sixty-five 
 dollar per month inspector to watch a 
 one hundred and twenty-five dollar a 
 month manipulator. Will they take 
 advantage of such an open door? 
 
 The Millers' Schemes 
 
 There is another source of creaming 
 going on after inspection, while not done 
 in the terminals it vitally affects the 
 output. I refer to our Western milling 
 industry. The manager of one of these 
 large concerns in evidence to the Sas- 
 katchewan elevator commission indicated 
 that they took care to place their elevators 
 at points where wheat of the highest mill- 
 ing value was produced. Besides this 
 they would buy large blocks of wheat 
 from commission men and small elevator 
 companies which would be billed to their 
 mills. Their expert would then open a 
 car, make selections of the best for their 
 purposes and send the rest forward to the 
 terminals. This was not done from a, 
 sample but the expert had the whole car 
 before him and the graphic words of the 
 witness were: "He would be a jack if 
 he did not keep the best." We do not 
 dispute this with him. Our point is the 
 opportunity is there and they will take 
 advantage of whatever opportunity offers. 
 This certainly gives them an advantage 
 of from one to two cents per bushel, 
 the farmer being robbed of it, and the total 
 output from the public bins deteriorated 
 to that extent. Will they take advantage 
 of such an open door? 
 
 Hon. G. H. V. Bulyea, speaking in the 
 first annual meeting of this association 
 in 1902, said: " At Regina recently grain 
 dealers were paying fifty cents per bushel 
 for wheat worth 75j^ cents at Fort Wil- 
 liam." The freight rate with elevator 
 charges amounted to 11)4 cents, therefore, 
 the wheat should be worth at Regina 
 63% cents, leaving 13% cents for the 
 dealer which the honorable gentleman 
 said "was simply robbing the farmers." 
 Evidently at that time they would if 
 they could.- and they did. 
 
 Legislature Approves 
 
 About this time at a meeting in which 
 R. S. Lake and Senator Perley were 
 present, the Hon. Walter Scott was called 
 upon to speak, and said in part that "he 
 
had reviewed the grain situation in par- 
 liament last year and had pointed out how 
 farmers in the West had suffered from un- 
 due discrimination on the part of the 
 grain dealers. These men," he said, 
 "had made flat denials, but he would be 
 thoroughly prepared for them this year." 
 He further said that the base of the trouble 
 he thought was in the transportation 
 and resolutions could not be made too 
 strong, in fact, they should be dipped in 
 vitrol. If these words had any justi- 
 fication at that time, what significance has 
 this demonstration for thin parliament 
 who have been so repeatedly appealed to 
 on this inspection and permanent elevator 
 question. Resolutions have been passed 
 and representations made to the Dominion 
 government at every recurring annual 
 meeting of this association, culminating 
 in this monster demonstration The 
 legislature of Saskatchewan on December 
 14th, 1909, passed the following resolution: 
 " Whereas, this house is of the opinion 
 that under existing conditions both in- 
 terior and terminal elevators being private 
 and identical interests operate to the disad- 
 vantage of the Grain Growers of Sask- 
 atchewan; 
 
 "Therefore, be it resolved, that in the 
 opinion of this house the government of 
 Canada should own and operate the ter- 
 minal elevators." 
 
 Mr. Sifton's Words 
 
 In 1903, Hon Clifford Sifton speaking to 
 the grain dealers in Winnipeg, said: 
 
 "Farmers are entitled to as much con- 
 sideration as grain dealers. When a 
 producer comes to parliament and says: 
 I have produced a commodity and I 
 object to it passing through the hands 
 of a set of middlemen who take from it 
 an undue toll;' I say to you and 1 say 
 plainly, that no parliament in Canada can 
 afford to disregard such a protest." 
 
 Hon. members of this House, today the 
 producers are here at the parliament of 
 Canada, making that statement in the 
 strongest possible way they know how, 
 anrl we commend to you the wisdom of the 
 honorable gentleman s remarks: "No 
 parliament can afford to disregard such 
 a protest " 
 
 This delegation is tired of this manipu- 
 lation, they want it stopped, and stopped 
 without further delay. We are told it is 
 a herculean task, that it will be opposed by 
 all the wealth anil iutluence of the pu»- ifid 
 corporations interested. We do not deny 
 it, we expect it. 
 
 What can this parliament do for this 
 delegation? What can this delegation 
 do for this parliament? 
 
 Some four years ago a delegation of 
 our* was interviewing one of your minii- 
 ters on this matter and that honorable 
 
 gentleman informed them that though it 
 was a big problem he would sooner spend 
 a few millions on this matter than in the 
 purchase of battleships and fortifications. 
 
 Land Pirates 
 
 Gentlemen, this delegation is thoroughly 
 loyal to our country and empire, and we 
 do not wish to lose or weaken in any 
 particular our proud position on the 
 seas, but we earnestly desire to be pro- , 
 tected from positive pillaging invaders 
 on the land before we sail out in iron- 
 clads to catch possible plunderers on far- 
 distant seas. 
 
 Let me in elosing refer to the vast ag-" 
 gregate of invested capital represented 
 by this delegation; each member of the 
 Western part of it we estimate has a half- 
 section of land valued with its equip- 
 ment at at least $10,000. There are 30,000 
 in our Western organizations, which 
 means an investment of $300,000,000. If, 
 as our friendly rivals declare, ew are 
 only twenty-five per cent, of the West- 
 ern farmers, we would represent the 
 enormous aggregate of $1,200,000,000, 
 and we think we may fairly claim to 
 be the articulate mouth-piece of the 
 whole. 
 
 Now, we think conditions should be so 
 that this enormous capital invested should 
 earn interest as well as the capital invested 
 in other industries which under present 
 conditions is, we think, impossible. 
 
 We have heard the resolutions read and 
 discussed which are to be presented here 
 regarding the Hudson's Bay Railway, 
 the Railway Act. the tariff and chilled 
 meat industry, and with all of them we 
 concur. 
 
 If these recommendations are adopted 
 and put into practice wc believe that it 
 step wi!i have been taken towards bringing 
 about that happy time when the agricul- 
 tural industry will be more remunerative; 
 that the business of farming will be more 
 attractive, and the unnatural drain from 
 the rural communities towards the cities 
 will be stopped and rural life become a 
 little leaven to leaven the whole lump of 
 the Canadian nation, which we believe, is 
 destined to lead the world in the solution 
 of Twentieth Century problems. 
 
 Dr. Chisholm's Query 
 
 Dr. T. Chisholm, M.P., East Huron: — 
 Mr. Green could make his case very 
 much stronger if he could give us some 
 documentary evidence and also produce 
 some samples of grain in support of 
 what he has said, and to show the dif- 
 ference in prices between tlie United 
 States and Canada and also the differ- 
 
 31 
 
ence of standards. If he could do that 
 his case would be invincible. Of course 
 as members of parliament we need some 
 evidence which is indisputable. I am 
 very pleased with the presentation he 
 has made. 
 
 F. W. Green: — The Prime Minister 
 has invited our executive to meet him 
 and to discuss this question, and at 
 that interview we shall, I believe, be 
 able to substantiate every statement 
 which we have made. (Hear, hear). 
 
 D. W. McCuaig: — I will next call on Mr. W. J. Tregillus, vice-presi- 
 dent of the United Farmers of Alberta, and a member of the Canadian 
 .Council of Agriculture. 
 
 Mr. Tregillus' Address 
 
 Mr. Tregillus: — To the Bight Honorable 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier Prime Minister 
 of Canada; the Members of the 
 Government, and the Members of 
 the House of Commons — 
 
 In presenting a third report on the 
 elevator question it is not our intention 
 to go into the matter deeply, believing 
 the arguments which have been pre- 
 sented by the other members of this 
 council are irrefutable; we desire, how- 
 ever, to lay further special emphasis 
 on the great need for terminal facilities 
 being provided at the Pacific coast 
 which will allow the Alberta farmers 
 to get their grain to the world's mar- 
 kets by the cheapest possible route. 
 
 Situated as Alberta is, such a great 
 distance from lake ports, our grain 
 growers have been seriously handicap- 
 ped since entering the business by the 
 heavy hauling charges entailed in get- 
 ting their products to the water front, 
 and if our rich soils had been less pro- 
 ductive they would have been unable to 
 make a living from growing grain. 
 
 Unfortunately much of our land has 
 been under cultivation for several years 
 and is therefore losing some of its 
 virgin fertility, so that we cannot count 
 on the large average yields in the 
 future to which we have been accus- 
 tomed in the past. Considering this fact 
 and also that the factor determining 
 the freight charges is the length of 
 the haul, is it to be wondered at that 
 we have been casting longing eyes upon 
 the year-open ports of the Pacific 
 coast? 
 
 No Coast Facilities 
 
 In spite of the fact that there are 
 no facilities on the Pacific coast for 
 economically handling grain, much of 
 Alberta's surplus is already going in 
 that direction. With terminal facilities 
 not only would Alberta's grain, but a 
 large proportion from Western Sas- 
 katchewan would also go that way. 
 
 We have in Alberta assisted for 
 years in the fight for government own- 
 ership of all terminal facilities, because 
 the abuses as practised by the term- 
 inal operators have affected us as 
 deeply as those producing grain to the 
 east of us. 
 
 It was in 1906 when the first demand 
 was made for terminal facilities at the 
 Pacific coast, and this demand culmin- 
 ated in a deputation waiting on your 
 government in April, 1909, asking for 
 terminal accommodation there. 
 
 This deputation was given to under- 
 stand that if the officers of your gov- 
 ernment connected with the grain trade 
 were convinced that sueh was necessary 
 the matter would be taken into con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Proof Sufficient 
 
 Since that time events have trans- 
 pired and evidence has been acquired 
 by your officers which shows that there 
 is no possibility of the grain trade be- 
 ing placed upon a stable foundation 
 unless all terminal facilities are owned 
 and operated by the government as 
 a public utility. 
 
 Having further regard to the West- 
 ern terminals we would point out that 
 at the present time there are no ob- 
 stacles in the way of government own- 
 ership, the path is perfectly clear for 
 immediate action of the government, 
 and the farmers of Western Canada are 
 anxiously waiting for these facilities to 
 be provided. 
 
 It is true that private interests and 
 interests connected with the grain 
 trade are willing to launch upon this 
 business; in fact it is understood that 
 terminal sites are being procured by 
 some of them. If the government acts 
 promptly in this matter there will be 
 no need for purchasing vested inter- 
 ests from any company upon the Pa- 
 cific coast, and for this reason we wish 
 to especially press this matter upon 
 your attention at this time. 
 
 32 
 
Make Calgary Order Point 
 
 A further reason for the establish- 
 ment of terminals at the Pacific coast 
 is that because of the lack of these 
 there is now no market for certain 
 grades of grain and frequently cars of 
 grain consigned to the coast are found, 
 on inspection at Calgary, to be unsuit- 
 able for that market, and have to be 
 re-billed to Port William or Port 
 Arthur, and owing to the fact that Cal- 
 gary not being an order point, the 
 railway company 'are enabled to make 
 extra charges, adding considerable ex- 
 pense to the shipper. 
 
 We' trust we have made it quite clear 
 to you that the question of terminal 
 elevators is one of greatest moment to 
 the farmers of Western Canada, the 
 solving of which would mean a great 
 deal to them. We are absolutely unani- 
 mous on this question, and believe the 
 only remedy is government ownership, 
 and we sincerely trust that you can 
 give us the definite pronouncement that 
 your government will immediately in- 
 troduce legislation for the government 
 ownership of all terminal elevators. 
 
 D. "W. MeCuaig: — I am now going to call upon Mr. D. B. Wood,, 
 of Hamilton, President of the Dominion Millers' Association. 
 
 Mr. Woods' Address 
 
 D. B. Wood said: — Sir Wilfrid Laurier 
 and Gentlemen — 
 
 Before proceeding with the remarks 
 laid out for me to make I desire to 
 congratulate the Grain Growers' Asso- 
 ciation on the able and reasonable pres- 
 entation which has been made of this 
 case up to the present time. I desire 
 also on behalf of the Dominion Millers' 
 association to express our appreciation 
 of the courtesy of the government in 
 allowing us to come here and present 
 our views on this very important 
 matter. 
 
 As president of the Dominion Mill- 
 ers' Association and making the rep- 
 resentations I do to you today in sup- 
 port of the resolution presented by Mr. 
 MeCuaig for the Grain Growers, I rep- 
 resent not only all the millers in On- 
 tario and Quebec east of the Great 
 Lakes, excepting perhaps the Ogilvie 
 Milling Company and the Quaker Oats 
 Company, who have their own terminals 
 at Fort William, but also the consum- 
 ers of Manitoba grain abroad, as their 
 interests are identical with ours. 
 
 On the 1st of September last at our 
 regular annual meeting the following 
 resolution was carried without a dis- 
 senting voice, a copy of which I now 
 hand you: 
 
 "Whereas the fining of the three 
 terminal elevators at Fort William and 
 Port Arthur last spring for mixing and 
 otherwise handling grain contrary to 
 the law shows that it is impossible as 
 long as these elevators are operated by 
 private interests to prevent these and 
 similar nefarious practices, notwith- 
 
 standing the most stringent regulations 
 and everjr effort being made to enforce 
 them. 
 
 "Therefore be it resolved that the 
 Dominion Millers ' Association in an- 
 nual meeting assembled respectfully 
 request and urge the Dominion govern- 
 ment without further delay to acquire 
 and operate the terminal elevators at 
 Fort William and Port Arthur as the 
 only means of placing all shippers 
 through these public terminals on a 
 fair and equal basis and prevent a large 
 portion of the business of the Ontario 
 mills and the grain export business of 
 Western Canada from being destroyed 
 for the benefit of a few private cor- 
 porations operating the public terminal 
 elevators at Fort William and Port 
 Arthur. ' ' 
 
 Milling Business Suffers 
 
 We have over 300 mills scattered 
 throughout Ontario east of the Great 
 Lakes with a capacity to manufacture 
 over 42,000 barrels of flour per day and 
 which all must have Manitoba wheat. 
 The business of these mills both local 
 and export is suffering from the flag- 
 rant and wilful violations of the law 
 of which the terminal elevator com- 
 panies at Fort William and Port Arthur 
 have been proved guilty. It is true 
 three of them have been fined $5,000, 
 but as they could easily make eight or 
 ten times that amount in manipulating 
 the grain as they did, according to 
 Commissioner Castle's report, a fine of 
 this sort will not likely discourage 
 them. We may note here that advices 
 from Winnipeg this week state that 
 Commissioner Oastle has entered an 
 
 S3 
 
action against another of the terminal 
 elevator companies. 
 
 Every interest connected with the 
 grain trade, the farmers, the dealers, 
 the millers and the exporters, has asked 
 the government to take over and oper- 
 ate these elevators. Why shonld all 
 these interests with millions of dollars 
 invested in their various businesses be 
 milched for the benefit of a few selfish 
 corporations who defy the law and de- 
 stroy the public confidence in the 
 grades of Manitoba wheat both at home 
 and abroad as inspected by the Domin- 
 ion inspector. 
 
 A Paying Proposition 
 
 The proposition which we bring be- 
 fore you is a unique one. The Domin- 
 ion government is asked year by year 
 to vote millions of money for projects 
 worthy as they may be from which 
 they receive no direct return, such as 
 bonuses to railways, etc. But in this 
 case we are asking the government to 
 spend eight or ten million dollars in 
 purchasing property which will today 
 not only pay interest and sinking fund, 
 but good dividends as well, with a 
 steady increase in revenue year by 
 year resulting from the ever-increasing 
 crops. 
 
 Enormous Capacity 
 
 That the business is a profitable one 
 is shown by the additional elevator 
 capacity erected there of over 2,250,000 
 in the last year or two, or, including 
 the terminals of the Grand Trunk Pa- 
 cific, over 6,000,000 bushels, so that 
 now the total capacity is over 26,000,000 
 bushels, whereas the largest amount 
 ever stored in these elevators at one 
 time was under 14,000,000 bushels in 
 April last. This goes to show that 
 this large additional capacity erected 
 during the last year or two is not be- 
 
 cause it is needed but because the busi- 
 ness is an exceedingly profitable one. 
 We have direct evidenee on this point 
 as when an application is made by the 
 Grain Growers' Association and our As- 
 sociation to the Board of Bailway Com- 
 missioners for a reduction in the ele- 
 vator charges at Port William because 
 the C.P.E. were charging over 12 cents 
 a bushel a year for elevating and stor- 
 ing grain, including insurance at Fort 
 William, as against about one-quarter of 
 this sum at their elevators at Owen 
 Sound, the Canadian Northern swore 
 that after providing for depreciation, 
 renewals, repairs and running expenses, 
 that their profits arising from the ele- 
 vator eharges were not more than. 8 
 per cent, on the amount which they had 
 invested in the elevaors and terminals 
 connected therewith. The C.P.B. swore 
 that their profits were only 4 per cent, 
 under the same circumstances, owing 
 no doubt to several of their houses be- 
 ing out of date, and also owing to the 
 grain being diverted to the privately- 
 operated houses where the mixing and 
 manipulation of the grain could be car- 
 ried on. 
 
 Time to Act - 
 
 This being the case, we hope to hear 
 from Sir Wilfrid before we leave today 
 that he and his colleagues have decided 
 that they will no longer allow these 
 three corporations to prey on every in- 
 terested connected with the grain trade 
 of our great Northwest, bat that they 
 will accede to the request made in the 
 past and reiterated here again today by 
 all these interests to take over and 
 operate these elevators forthwith, and 
 thus place, as it were, the key-stone on 
 the efforts which they have been putting 
 forth fro^a year to year to assist and 
 protect the agricultural and allied in- 
 terests of this great country of ours. 
 
 D. W. McCuaig: — The next gentlemai I am to call upon is Gee. 
 E. Goldie, who will speak for the Ontario millers. 
 
 Mr. Goldie's Address 
 
 Mr. Goldie: — As representing, with 
 Mr. Wood, the Dominion Millers' Asso- 
 ciation, I wish to support the resolution 
 presented by the Grain Growers. 
 
 All of the millin g interests of the asso- 
 ciation as well as my own are located here 
 in Ontario, and having no Western 
 elevators we have to buy all our grain at 
 Fort William and in order to maintain the 
 high quality of our products and meet the 
 keen competition of the great mills west 
 
 of the Lakes, it is absolutely necessary 
 that we should secure our grain of the 
 same high standard as it is sold by the 
 producers in the West and buy it at its 
 legitimate value. With grain dealers 
 operating the terminal elevators at Fort 
 William and Port Arthur we find not only 
 is the quality of the grain as shipped out 
 of the elevators, unsatisfactory, but we 
 find that owing to the terminal elevator 
 companies buying up the cash grain to 
 
 34 
 
earn for their houses the heavy storage 
 charges now imposed that we have to pay 
 more for the cash grain than it is worth, 
 generally one-half cent per bushel or 
 more when we go to load our boats. 
 Some may say that this advance in price 
 is a good thing for the farmer, but as 
 a matter of fact the farmer receives no . 
 benefit from it as it is only the spot wheat 
 in Fort William that is available to load 
 the boats within a day or two that the 
 price is advanced on. 
 
 Wheat which has only reached Winni- 
 peg frequently carries no premium and 
 the farmers wheat coming forward from 
 the country or in the country elevators is 
 sold on a basis of about the current option. 
 To illustrate, take the price of 1 Northern. 
 On November 26, spot price 92—7-8,, 
 country price 923^; 3 Northern, spot 87M, 
 country 86 }-£; November 30, 1 Northern, 
 spot 90 M, country 90; 3 Northern, spot 
 84%. country 83%- Evidently there 
 was no demand for 1 Northern to load 
 boats this day. December 3rd, 1 North- 
 ern, spot 92, country 91; 3 Northern 
 spot 86J^, country 85. December 6, 
 1 Northern spot 91 5-8, country 91 Hi 
 S Northern, spot 86 1-8, country 85%. 
 December 9th, 1 Northern, spot 90 3-8, 
 country 90; No. 3 Northern, spot 84%, 
 country 83%. I could give you the same 
 figures on 2 Northern showing the prem- 
 ium running from M of a cent to 1 cent per 
 bushel depending on how keen the demand 
 was for grain to load boats. 
 
 Another Graft 
 
 Nor is this the only way that we are 
 held up by the terminal elevators, as only 
 last week I chartered two vessels to load 
 grain at the elevators for winter storage 
 to bring down at the opening of naviga- 
 tion, and not only did the elevators shove 
 up the price spot grain one-half cent per 
 bushel when they found it was required 
 for this purpose but they notified the 
 vessel owner that they would not load 
 any grain into the boats after the 10th 
 December although the elevators run all 
 winter and ship grain out by rail. 
 
 Their action was simply another move 
 to keep the grain in the elevators subject 
 to their heavy charges, and an additional 
 burden on the millers and exporters who 
 are buying the grain for legitimate busi- 
 ness purposes. 
 
 As one of the royal grain commissioners 
 I was opposed to government ownership 
 of the terminal elevators and reported 
 against government ownership but in 
 favor of steps being taken to prevent any 
 parties interested in the grain trade from 
 owning or operating the terminal eleva- 
 tors. Personally I am just as strongly 
 opposed as ever to government ownersnip 
 as a general principle, yet the conditions 
 at Fort William are such that I am now 
 convinced that there is no other remedy 
 for the outrageous state of affairs existing 
 there than government ownership and 
 operation. 
 
 Control Insufficient 
 
 The steps taken to curb the evil by the 
 issue and registration of terminal ware- 
 house receipts are entirely insufficient as 
 it would still be possible by selection 
 from the grades for the terminal elevator 
 owner to put an illegitimate profit of 1 
 cent or lJ-£ cents per bushel into his 
 pocket and at the same time to so handle 
 his export business that he would ruin 
 the business of any firm exporting in 
 competition with him through his house. 
 
 The Winnipeg Grain Exchange in their 
 last annual report referring to this 
 question, state in part as follows: — 
 
 "They deplore the fact that owing to 
 information already made public confi- 
 dence in the handling of grain through the 
 terminals has been seriously impaired." 
 
 These facts and those submitted by the 
 previous speaker show that the present 
 method of operating the terminal eleva- 
 tors is such a serious menace to the grain 
 and flour industry of this country that 
 it must speedily be removed or irreparable 
 damage will be done, and therefore we 
 ask you to take immediate action. 
 
 Mr. MeCuaig: — I will next call upon Mr. Hedley Shaw, repre- 
 senting the Toronto Board of Trade, to address you . 
 
 Mr. Shaw's Address 
 
 Mr. Shaw: — I beg to present the reso- 
 lution of the Toronto board of trade in 
 support of the resolution presented by 
 Mr. MeCuaig for the Grain Growers, as 
 follows: 
 
 " Whereas representatives of the Winni- 
 peg Grain Exchange, the Montreal Grain 
 Exchange and the Kingston board of 
 trade, waited on the Dominion govern- 
 ment representing that it was of the 
 
 15 
 
utmost importance that the various 
 grades of grain as inspected by the 
 government inspectors should reach the 
 consumer both in the eastern provinces 
 and abroad without any admixture or 
 selection of the grades, and they believe 
 that the only way to attain this is for the 
 government to take over and operate 
 the terminal elevators at Fort William 
 and Port Arthur; 
 
 "And whereas since then no less than 
 three of the terminal elevators were 
 heavily fined for mixing the grades 
 contrary to law in spite of the close 
 supervision which the government main- 
 tained by means of their various officials, 
 
 "And whereas from past experience we 
 believe that the only way the grain can 
 reach the consumer of the same quality 
 and inspected into the elevators by the 
 government inspectors is that it be stored 
 in government elevators at Fort William 
 and Port Arthur. 
 
 "Therefore be it resolved that this 
 grain section of the board of trade of the 
 city of Toronto most earnestly request 
 the Dominion government without delay 
 to take whatever steps are necessary to 
 take over and operate the terminal 
 elevators at Fort William at the earliest 
 possible moment so that the milling and 
 export trade may be no longer handi- 
 capped by the dealers in grain owning and 
 operating the terminal elevators through 
 which the independent shippers are com- 
 pelled to ship their grain thus placing 
 them at an unfair disadvantage wnich 
 should be removed forthwith especially 
 as the acquisition and operation of these 
 terminal elevators by the Dominion 
 government would prove a very profitable 
 operation and grow more profitable year 
 by year as the quantity of grain to be 
 shipped through these elevators will 
 undoubtedly increase very largely each 
 succeeding year." 
 
 A Concrete Case 
 
 In support of this resolution I beg to. 
 say that 1 have a line of interior elevators 
 in the Northwest, I have mills at Brandon 
 and Kenora, west of Fort William, for 
 which all the grain is supplied as bought 
 from the farmers. I also have mills at 
 St. Catharines and Thorold and have 
 now in course of erection a 8,000 barrel 
 mill at Port Colbourne, all in Ontario. 
 The grain for these latter mills must come 
 through the elevators at Fort William. 
 Now I find that the grain which I take in 
 at the mill at Kenora that has not passed 
 through the terminal elevators at Fort 
 William and Port Arthur is worth half a 
 cent to a cent and a half more for milling 
 purposes than the grain of the same 
 grades which is shipped out from Fort 
 
 William and Port Arthur elevators for 
 use in my mills this side of the lakes. 
 There is no difference in the value of this 
 wheat as shipped by the farmers and 
 inspected at Winnipeg, and there should 
 be absolutely no difference in its value 
 if it were shipped out of the Fort William 
 and Port Arthur elevators as it is re- 
 ceived in. 
 
 Why the difference? 
 
 1. Because the men operating those 
 elevators take grain which is stored there 
 by the farmers and dealers and which 
 they do not own and should not have any 
 interest in except as warehousemen and 
 manipulate it by mixing No. 2, No. S 
 Northern and even No. 4 into 1 Northern 
 as shown by Commissioner Castle's report. 
 
 2. By the selection of grades. 
 
 3. By not cleaning the grain properly 
 as called for by the inspection certificate. 
 
 Referring to the latter I find the average 
 dockage on grain going into my mill at 
 Kenora as assessed by Inspector Horn 
 is 1 J^ per cent. If this average dockage 
 applies to all grain passing through Fort 
 William it would amount to over a million 
 bushels per year. Do the elevators clean 
 out of the grain passing through their 
 houses over a million bushels » year? I 
 think not. In this way they are enabled 
 to put into their pockets a much larger 
 profit and illegitimate profit than they 
 could make by the legitimate operation 
 of the elevators, notwithstanding the 
 enormous storage charges which the 
 grain has to bear. 
 
 Expensive Handicap 
 
 What Mr. Goldie, the last speaker, told 
 you regarding the cash premium is 
 absolutely correct as I have been up 
 against the same thing every time that 
 I have loaded a boat, and the profits in 
 the milling industry are now cut so fine, 
 especially in the export business where 
 we have to compete with flour made from 
 wheat from all over the world that we 
 cannot profitably continue in business if 
 subject to this handicap, even if the grain 
 shipped out of Fort William and* Port 
 Arthur elevators was of equal value to 
 that received direct from the West at 
 our Kenora mill. 
 
 If the government does not take over 
 and operate these elevators at once there 
 will be no other course left me but to 
 build a terminal elevator at Fort William 
 in connection with my milling business, 
 so that I can get the grain without its 
 being manipulated or degraded for use 
 in my mills down here. Then if I wish 
 to compete with the other elevators 
 successfully, I would have to adopt the 
 same taction tha^the y do in handling the 
 
 36 
 
grain. I trust, however, that the Domin- 
 ion government will, by deciding to-day, 
 to buy and operate the terminal elevators 
 put a stop to the further tieing up of 
 large sums of money in erecting more 
 elevators at that point. Already the 
 capacity of the elevators there has never 
 been much more than half filled and is 
 sufficient for the requirements of the 
 trade for many years to come if in the 
 hands of one management. 
 
 A Desperate Case 
 
 The members of the council of the 
 board of trade of the Citv of Toronto are 
 
 opposed as a whole to the principle of 
 government and municipal ownership and 
 so express themselves in considering this 
 resolution, but they felt that it was a case 
 of "desperate diseases needing desperate 
 remedies," and therefore they have 
 forwarded this resolution to you with the 
 earnest request that you will at once 
 remove the grievance and restore the 
 confidence of local as well as foreign 
 buyers in the integrity of the grades of 
 Manitoba grain as inspected by the 
 Dominion government inspector. 
 
 Mr. McCuaig: — I will next call, upon Mr. H. "W. Richardson, 
 representing the exporters east and west, to address you. 
 
 Mr. Richardson's Address 
 
 I did not expect, Sir Wilfrid and Sir 
 Richard, to have occasion to meet you 
 again in so short a time, but I have been 
 appointed by the Winnipeg grain dealers 
 and exporters to represent them on this 
 occasion. Sir Richard, I had the pleasure 
 of being before you last February on the 
 great question of terminal elevator^, 
 which is of vital importance to our country 
 and I thank you for what you at that 
 time did because there has been an im- 
 provement, of that there is no doubt 
 whatever. 
 
 Regarding the matter of the Western 
 business I might say that our firm has 
 been in operation in the northwest, buying 
 grain from the farmers of the West since 
 1888, and we have continued to this day. 
 Last year we shipped 14 million bushels 
 of grain to Fort William, about one-sixth 
 of the total crop. We have a line of 
 elevators from High River near Calgary 
 to Portage la Prairie. The grain that we 
 buy is inspected at Winnipeg and goes 
 into the bins in the terminal elevators 
 at Fort William and Port Arthur. Last 
 spring I made the charge that the grain as 
 shipped out was skinned down to the 
 lowest grade. By this I meant that the 
 elevator operators had mixed different 
 kinds of wheat in such a way that the 
 wheat of each grade was of the poorest 
 possible quality. Let me explain what I 
 mean. You have a car of wheat that 
 should grade No. 1. It is raised perhaps 
 on Portage Plains and it may not be as 
 heavy as the wheat raised farther West, 
 and though it is up to the standard in 
 other respects it is a pound short of what 
 is required for No. 1 and it is graded No. 
 2. Then you have a car of wheat raised 
 farther West. It weighs 62 pounds to 
 the measured bushel but it is a little soft, 
 
 and it is also graded No. 2. You put the 
 two together, each makes up for the de- 
 ficiencies of the other, and you have a 
 No. 1 Northern wheat. It costs the ele- 
 vator nothing, but it brings the elevator 
 people an extra profit of $60. That is a 
 loss to the country. I do not accuse 
 these men o f doing anything but what the 
 law allows them to, and the only way I 
 see to put a stop to this ,ind of thing 
 is for the government to take over these 
 terminal elevators and operate them by a 
 commission representative of the grain 
 exchanges and of the grain growers. 
 These are the men who are furnishing the 
 goods and they will see that the goods are 
 handled right. 
 
 The Cost 
 
 The question comes in of cost. I 
 believe that if they are handled right 
 the elevators will pay enormous dividends. 
 For instance, we pay one cent a bushel 
 per month for storage, and there are 
 concrete elevators that cost only one- 
 fifth of a cent a bushel for a year. If a 
 man puts a bushel of oats in an elevator 
 for a year he will have to pay 12 cents 
 storage, one-third of the value of the oats. 
 I know a concrete elevator in the East 
 where they charge lj^ cents a bushel for 
 storage all winter and half a cent for 
 handling in the summer and they are able 
 to pay 12 per cent, dividends. 
 
 Too much Minnesota 
 
 I had the pleasure, too, of being before 
 the railway commission about a year ago, 
 and there was a gentleman there represent- 
 ing the elevator companies who stated that 
 they were only paying 6 per cent, 5 per 
 cent., and 4 per cent dividends. If that 
 is all they are paying, surely the govern- 
 
ment can buy them cheap enough. I 
 noticed in the papers some time ago 
 that it was thought that it might be good 
 policy to adopt the Minnesota laws. 
 Gentlemen, I think our trouble is all from 
 Minnesota (laughter). All the wrinkles 
 and all the knowledge that 35 or 40 years 
 of experience of terminal elevator can give 
 has been brought over to Canada and used 
 in this country. We were very much 
 better before the Minnesota people came 
 in. Do not let us go there to look for 
 help; surely we can help ourselves. 
 
 Protect the Wheat 
 
 Sir Wilfrid and gentlemen, I will not 
 occupy your time very much. It is a big 
 subject. I have considered it a great 
 deal, but I know this: we want to keep 
 up the character of our wheat in Europe. 
 We stand today foremost barring none. 
 We ship the best wheat to Europe that is 
 shipped from any part of the world. 
 Our wheat, true, does not bring so much 
 more than Minnesota wheat, but it always 
 has the preference. It may bring us six- 
 pence a quarter more or four pence 
 halfpenny more a quarter. I know when 
 
 the crops in Dakota were not good and the 
 millers on the other side had to come to 
 Canada for their wheat — I know they 
 said : " It is years and years since we had 
 the pleasure of grinding such good wheat 
 as yours." I think our No. 2 Northern 
 today is as good as their No. 1 Northern 
 Minnesota. If you take these grades 
 down to a United States miller I think 
 he would give our wheat the preference. 
 The fact is we have the best climate, 
 the best soil and the best people, and we 
 can raise the best wheat. We have the 
 best waterways and railroads, let us keep 
 on getting the best. We can afford to buy 
 these terminah) — let us do it and we will 
 make money out of them. Cut the 
 charges right in two and you can make 
 money. I will tell you how. There is 
 a great long string of elevators that are 
 quite necessary in the fall, but after yon 
 get through shipping you can close up 
 two or three of them and operate the 
 balance and have all the room you want. 
 Then you fill all the elevators that are 
 built of concrete and cost little for insur- 
 ance and you will save millions of dollars. 
 Gentlemen, it is easy. 
 
 CHILLED MEAT QUESTION 
 
 D. W. McCuaig: — The next resolution I have to lay before you 
 is a request in connection with the chilled meat question. 
 The resolution is as follows: 
 
 "The government be urgently re- 
 quested to erect the necessary works 
 and operate a modern and up-to-date 
 method of exporting our meat animals. 
 
 "We suggest that a system owned 
 and operated by the government as a 
 public utility or a system of co-opera- 
 tion by the producers through the gov- 
 
 ernment, in which the government would 
 supply the funds necessary to first instal 
 the system and provide for the gradual 
 repayment of these funds and interest 
 by a charge on the product passing 
 through the system, would give the 
 relief needed, and make Canada one 
 of the most prosperous meat producing 
 countries in the world." 
 
 I will call upon D. W. Warner, of Edmonton, Alberta, a director 
 of the United Farmers of Alberta, and a member of the Canadian 
 Council of Agriculture, to address you. 
 
 Mr. Warner's Address 
 
 Mr. Warner: — To the Eight Honorable 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Prime Minister 
 of Canada; the Members of the 
 Government and the Members of 
 the House of Commons — 
 
 The live stock trade, of great impor- 
 tance now, must ultimately become the 
 backbone of agricultural prosperity in 
 
 Canada. We realize the importance of 
 carrying on a. mixed farming business, 
 and we know that the keeping of stock 
 is not only the best but the only means of 
 preventing the depletion of our soil in 
 anything like a permanent manner; all 
 other means being more or less temporary. 
 
 38 
 
Our Prairie Provinces, on account of the 
 facility with which food can be produced, 
 and the salubrious character of the 
 climate, is exceedingly well adapted for 
 the production of food-producing animals. 
 Yet, on account of the inadequacy of the 
 system of marketing stock, and notwith- 
 standing the fact that consumers in the 
 large centres of population have to pay 
 very high prices for meat, the returns to 
 cattle raisers are so discouraging, that 
 increasing numbers of them are going out 
 of this business to an alarming extent. 
 
 Ranches Disappearing 
 
 The old cheap method of raising cattle 
 on large ranches is rapidly disappearing; 
 in the near future the only source of 
 supply will be the farms, and under 
 present conditions the farmer cannot 
 possibly raise the number of cattle needed 
 for the home and export trade with any 
 reasonable profit to himself. Thus, one 
 of the greatest sources of our agricultural 
 wealth is being destroyed instead of being 
 developed. We wish to impress on you 
 the necessity of a profitable, economical 
 and permanent market for our meat 
 products. The marketing of our meat 
 has so far been left in the hands of monop- 
 olies, of whose methods much complaint 
 has been made and not without cause. 
 We wish also to draw attention to the 
 danger we are in while we leave the 
 opportunity open for the United States 
 meat interests to capture and control 
 the export trade from our country. We 
 contend that it is a very vital importance, 
 if the Canadian meat export trade is to 
 grow and prosper as our natural resources 
 will permit, that Canada must have her 
 own route and equipment. Another 
 serious condition arises when from any 
 cause a crop is of poor quality and there 
 is not sufficient stock in the country to 
 consume it. Still another complication, 
 due to the poor and uncertain price for 
 beef, is the deterioration of our beef 
 animals through crossing of dairy breeds 
 with them and the tendency to careless 
 breeding of inferior stock. 
 
 The Only Remedy 
 
 The farmers in view of this situation 
 believe that the remedy for this condition 
 of affairs is the establishment of an export 
 trade in dressed meat. As to the advan- 
 tages and feasibility of that proposition 
 we also qoute extracts from the report by 
 Dr. Rutherford of August 1st, 1909: — 
 
 "There is no doubt but that if the 
 enterprise were properly financed, started 
 on a firm basis, and conducted in an 
 honest and business-like manner in the 
 interests of the producer, there would be 
 far less actual wastage than at present. 
 It i.« altogether likelv that, had it been 
 
 possible to secure the required capital, 
 the trade would have been inaugurated 
 years ago. 
 
 Public Control Necessary 
 
 "Such an enterprise, to be productive 
 of the greatest benefit to all concerned, 
 should be under effective public control, 
 and it is to be hoped that in the not too 
 distant future some practicable scheme 
 will be evolved, which while affording a 
 better and more reliable and regular 
 market for our Western live stock, will 
 still leave the producer free from the 
 trammels of any trust, whether foreign 
 or domestic. 
 
 " Canada is practically without abat- 
 toirs equipped for the slaughter of cattle,, 
 except to a very limited extent for the 
 home market. She has no system of 
 refrigerator meat cars, and has, entering 
 her ports, very few ships fitted for thff 
 carrying of meat. In view of these facts 
 it is scarcely necessary to dwell on the 
 risk which she is constantly carrying. 
 At any time, in spite of the best efforts of 
 her veterinary sanitary service, the 
 appearance within her borders of one 
 or other of the diseases scheduled by the 
 British board of agriculture is within 
 the range of possibility. As matters now 
 stand, were such a thing to occur, espec- 
 ially within the short period in which our 
 Western cattle are shipped, or at the time 
 when our winter fed steers are being 
 marketed, the consequence to the pro- 
 ducers would be disastrous, while the 
 whole trade would receive a blow from 
 which it would require many years to 
 recover. For this reason, if for no other, 
 the establishment of a chilled meat trade 
 on sound business lines and under proper 
 control may fairly be termed a matter of 
 national importance." 
 
 Pay Charges on Excess 
 
 Besides the risk suggested by Dr. 
 Rutherford, we may point out that by 
 shipping the cattle on foot, we pay all 
 the transportation expenses on the live 
 weight, which is virtually just the double 
 the real meat weight. We incur 
 large expenses in attending to and feeding 
 the cattle during the journey, the cattle 
 waste and deteriorate during the journey 
 and bring lower prices on arrival, and so 
 in every way the present method of 
 shipping cattle alive is the most wasteful 
 method of conducting this business both 
 for producer and consumer, to say nothing 
 of the suffering of the cattle during the 
 long journey. After long and earnest 
 consideration we have concluded that 
 we, as a nation, cannot afford to have the 
 farme'", our greatest wealth producer!, 
 left without a good market for their 
 
 M 
 
produce and hampered by trusts and 
 monopolies. Such a condition, we think, 
 would lessen their efficiency as farmers and 
 stockmen, and tend to bring about a 
 permanent and irreparable damage to 
 the nation as a whole. This is not a new 
 question. It is an old and serious one 
 to those who, struggling along under the 
 many adverse conditions, find that they 
 are compelled to sacrifice the animals they 
 have reared, on the altar of monopoly, 
 and find that the money they had hoped 
 to obtain for the sustenance of their 
 families has gone to further enrich the 
 powerful and already rich operators of the 
 meat trust. 
 
 Urge Adoption of System 
 
 We urge your government to seriously 
 consider the advisability of providing the 
 necessary equipment for the carrying on 
 of a chilled meat trade with the British 
 markets, for the benefit of stock growers. 
 We have all the more assurance in making 
 this request from the fact that it has been 
 the fixed policy of your government, 
 since 1896, to grant bonuses for the 
 development and encouragement of new 
 industries in the different provinces of 
 the Dominion. The government of Can- 
 ada has paid bounties to fishermen of the 
 Maritime provinces to aid in the develop- 
 ment of their fisheries during the last 
 twenty-seven years, the sum of $4,265,- 
 Slj. Since that date they have paid to 
 the lead industry, $1,131,378; Manila 
 fibre industry, $144,459; crude petroleum 
 industry, $1,559,672; iron and steel 
 $11,922,420; manufacture of steel, $1,- 
 633,702, making a total bounty granted 
 these industries of $16,593,531. Includ- 
 ing the bonus to fishermen the amount is 
 $20,859,815. It is a debatable question 
 whether, on account of the price paid, 
 these industries are enabled to charge the 
 public for their commodity through the 
 protection granted them by the tariff, 
 much benefit accrues to the people of 
 Canada for this large gift to the different 
 industries. Be that as it may, all the 
 provinces of the Dominion, with the 
 exception of the Prairie Provinces, have 
 participated directly to these bounties. 
 Furthermore, the government has, on no 
 occasion, granted a bounty towards the 
 development of any branch of the agri- 
 cultural industry. In view of this fact 
 it does not seem unreasonable if the 
 Western farmers should request the 
 government to render aid in creating 
 conditions that would enable the farmers 
 
 to market their stock produce to the best 
 advantage. Furthermore, the bounty 
 granted these other industries is a free 
 gift. In our case we only request the 
 government to make an investment that 
 would be an addition to the capital 
 account of the Dominion and could be 
 made to pay interest on the investment 
 directly. 
 
 "Whereas it is of very great importance 
 to the whole of Canada that prompt 
 government action be taken towards 
 establishing a complete chilled meat 
 system on a sound and permanent basis, 
 with the interests of the producers 
 adequately protected, and 
 
 "Whereas, the live stock industry of 
 Canada has been neglected and if the 
 neglect is continued it will soon result 
 in impoverished farms, and the live stock 
 industry will make no headway until it 
 is made worth the farmers' while to pro- 
 duce and furnish more and better stock; 
 and, 
 
 "Whereas, the farmers are, on account 
 of the unsatisfactory market, going out 
 of the meat producing business, and will 
 not again take it up until the market 
 is placed upon a stable basis, and, further, 
 that under the present system of exporting 
 there is always a danger of the markets 
 of the world being closed to us, which 
 would result in ruin to many; and, 
 
 Must Have System 
 
 "Whereas, on account of the danger of 
 encouraging monopolies the farmers can- 
 not be satisfied with anything short 
 of a meat curing and chilling process 
 inaugurated by the Dominion government, 
 and operated in such a way that will 
 guarantee to the producers the value of 
 the animals they produce. 
 
 "Therefore, be it resolved, that the 
 government be urgently requested to erect 
 the necessary works and operate a modern 
 and up-to-date method of exporting our 
 meat animals. 
 
 "We suggest that a system owned and 
 operated by the government as a. public 
 utility, or a system of co-operation by the 
 producers through the government in 
 which the government would supply the 
 funds necessary to first install the system 
 and provide for the gradual repayment 
 of these funds and interest by a charge on 
 the product passing through the system, 
 would give the relief needed, and make 
 Canada one of the most prosperous meat 
 producing countries in the world." 
 
 42$ 
 
 40 
 
HUDSON'S BAY RAILWAY 
 
 Mr. McCuaig : — The next subject we have to bring before you, 
 Sir Wilfrid, is that of the Hudson's Bay Eailway. The resolution 
 passed at our convention on this subject was as follows : 
 
 "Whereas, the necessity of the Hud- 
 son's Bay Railway as the natural and 
 the most economic outlet for placing 
 the products of the Western prairies on 
 the European market has been empha- 
 sized by the Western people for past 
 generation; 
 
 "And whereas, the Dominion govern- 
 ment has recognized the need and im- 
 portance of the Hudson's Bay Railway 
 and has pledged itself to> its immediate 
 construction, and has provided the 
 necessary funds entirely from the sale 
 of Western lands; 
 
 "And whereas, the chief benefit to 
 be derived from the Hudson's Bay 
 Railway will be a reduction in freight 
 rates in Western Canada due to actual 
 
 competition, which could be secured only 
 through government ownership and 
 operation of the Hudson's Bay Railway; 
 
 "And whereas, anything short of 
 absolute public ownership and operation 
 of the Hudson's Bay Railway will de- 
 feat the purpose for which the road was 
 advocated, and without which it would 
 be in the interests of Western Canada 
 that the building of the road should be 
 deferred; 
 
 "Therefore, be it resolved that it is 
 the opinion of this convention that the 
 Hudson's Bay Railway and all terminal 
 facilities connected therewith should be 
 constructed, owned and operated in per- 
 petuity by the Dominion government 
 under an independent commission." 
 
 I will call upon Mr. R. C. Henders, President of the Manitoba 
 Grain Growers' Association, and a member of the Canadian Council 
 of Agriculture, to address you. 
 
 Mr. Henders' Address 
 
 Mr. Henders: — To the Right Honorable 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister 
 of Canada; the Members of the 
 Government and the Members of 
 the House of Commons — 
 
 Situated as they are in the centre of 
 the continent, the question of transpor- 
 tation becomes to Western farmers of 
 vital importance. For years they have 
 had the idea established in their minds 
 that the proper and most natural outlet 
 for their- farm products was by the 
 Hudson 's Bay, that forming the shortest 
 route to the European markets, reduc- 
 ing very materially the expensive land 
 haul on heavy commodities. They 
 appreciate the fact that your govern- 
 ment has taken steps towards building 
 a railway to Hudson's Bay. But there 
 is an evident impatience in the public 
 mind of the Prairie Provinces, that the 
 progress being made towards the con- 
 struction of the road is not as rapid 
 as the necessities of the case demand. 
 We, therefore, urge that every effort be 
 made towards the immediate eonstruc- 
 " ,. i . ;." 'iv TI'J&wlmym mmv orilway. 
 
 The building of this road to the bay 
 will be no burden on the public treas- 
 ury as full provision has already been 
 made by your government by which the 
 necessary funds are already in hand, 
 being provided for by the sale of West- 
 ern lands. According to reports issued 
 by your government, Western lands 
 have been sold to the amount of $21,- 
 000,000. It is anticipated that when 
 the payments on these lands are com- 
 pleted, together with the interest on the 
 same, the total will amount to $24,000,- 
 000. Estimates fix the cost of construc- 
 tion of the Hudson 's Bay Railway some- 
 where about $18,000,000, so there is 
 ample money in sight for this purpose 
 provided as above outlined. We are 
 gratified that your government has al- 
 ready declared its intention of devoting 
 this money to the construction of the 
 road to the Bay. When the pre-emption 
 bill was introduced in the House of 
 Commons two years a<ro the minister of 
 the interior, in speaking on the bill, 
 said: "I am insisting on the pre-emp- 
 tion provision as a means of ensuring 
 
the early building of the railway to 
 Hudson's Bay." During the debate on 
 the same bill several statements of a 
 similar purport were made on the floor 
 of the house by members of the gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 In view of the fact that the Hudson's 
 Bay railway is being built largely for 
 the benefit of the Western people and 
 that the funds for its construction have 
 been entirely provided from the West, 
 it seems only reasonable that the con- 
 struction, ownership and operation 
 should be in accord with the express 
 wishes of the people most interested. 
 
 Government Must Eetain Eoad 
 
 The farmers of the West view with 
 alarm the current reports to the effect 
 that when the Hudson's Bay railway is 
 built by the government it will be 
 handed over to some private corporation 
 to be operated by them as a private con- 
 cern. There is a very strong and grow- 
 ing sentiment among the Canadian peo- 
 ple west of the Great Lakes in favor 
 of public utilities being owned and oper- 
 ated by the government. This sentiment 
 has been and is still being created and 
 enlarged by the excessive charges made 
 by corporations for the service they 
 render to the public. 
 
 We desire to call the attention of your 
 government to the fact that the farmers 
 •of the West are not alone in the expres- 
 sion of the above views on this ques- 
 tion. Practically every Board of Trade 
 in the Western towns and cities have 
 gone on record as strongly in favor of 
 government construction, ownership 
 and operation of the Hudson's Bay 
 Railway, so that there is practically a 
 unanimity of opinion on this question 
 in Western Canada today. 
 
 Eoad Is Needed 
 
 The prairie farmers have not only to 
 ship out their produce, but have also 
 
 to ship in all commodities required on 
 the farm, and in the distribution of 
 these commodities have very much felt 
 the oppressive character of the present 
 transportation system. This situation 
 has led thinking men to look for a 
 remedy and there is becoming a settled 
 conviction in the public mind that the 
 only effective remedy is that public 
 utilities and semi-public utilities should 
 be operated by the government, federal, 
 provincial nad municipal, in the interest 
 of the masses. 
 
 The present situation is that the few 
 co-operate to discharge the function of 
 distribution of commodities for the 
 benefit of the few at the expense of the • 
 many. Instead of this, farmers consider 
 that a new system should be adopted 
 whereby the many, in the form of the 
 government, will operate public utilities 
 for the benefit of the many, and groups 
 of individuals discharge the functions 
 of distributing commodities for the 
 benefit of the many. 
 
 Under Independent Commission 
 
 We would earnestly urge on your 
 government that you will not only con- 
 struct the Hudson's Bay Railway as a 
 government undertaking, as early as 
 possible, and also provide all necessary 
 terminal facilities for the handling of 
 grain and other commodities as a gov- 
 ernment undertaking, but will also, on 
 the completion of the road,, operate it 
 under an independent commission. To 
 hand over the road, when completed, 
 to a private corporation would, in our 
 opinion, practically destroy its useful- 
 ness to Western Canada; and we believe 
 that the expenditure of the money re- 
 quired to build the road will not be 
 justified unless the interests of the peo- 
 ple are protected in the manner which 
 we have indicated. 
 
 49 
 
AMENDMENTS TO RAILWAY ACT 
 
 D. "W. McCuaig: — The next question is the matter of the amend- 
 ment of the Railway act. The amendments are of a general nature 
 and were not put in the form of a resolution. Mr. James Bower, 
 President of the United Farmers of Alberta, will have charge of this 
 question and will present to you our proposals. 
 
 Mr. Bower s Address 
 
 Mr. Bower: — To the Bight Honorable 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister 
 of Canada; the Members of the 
 Government and the Members of 
 the House of Commons — 
 
 We wish to draw your attention to 
 the Bailway Act, certain parts of which 
 are oppressive and detrimental to the 
 farming interests. The parts to which 
 we have more particular reference at 
 the present time are: 
 
 1. The liability of the railways in 
 respect to fences and cattle guards. 
 
 2. For stock injured on the lines. 
 
 3. The adjustment of freight rates 
 and amendments to sections of the Act 
 which have reference thereto. 
 
 We might here siy that not only the 
 stock-killing question but the freight 
 rates affect the farmer more deeply 
 than any other class of people. They 
 constitute not only the great bulk of 
 the producing class but also of the con- 
 sumers, so that although those who are 
 dealing directly with the railways and 
 paying the tolls may sometimes feel 
 aggrieved, yet they reimburse them- 
 selves by charging a higher price for 
 what they "sell or protect themselves 
 in what they buy by buying at a lower 
 price from the producer so that ulti- 
 mately the greater burden of the freight 
 rates falls on the farmer. 
 
 Hilling of Stock 
 
 As to the killing of stock on the rail- 
 ways, our complaint is that the law as 
 laid down in the Bailway Act is very 
 vague, giving the companies the chance 
 of evading payment of just claims, a 
 chance of which they take advantage in 
 hundreds of cases. We wish to draw 
 your attention to Section 254, which is 
 ' not sufficiently complete in itself to 
 enforce the building of suitable fences 
 and guards over all parts of companies' 
 lines where such are needed. 
 
 A ruling which was given some time 
 ago by the Board of Bailway Commis- 
 sioners would to a great extent have 
 effected a remedy, but this ruling has, 
 
 however, been appealed, and we under- 
 stand that the appeal has- been upheld. 
 There is no doubt whatever that the 
 ruling was given for good cause, but 
 the question of jurisdiction was raised, 
 thus defeating the protection that would 
 otherwise have been given to the 
 farmer. The argument against it as 
 presented by the railway companies is 
 an absurd one — that each individual 
 case be tried separately — because by the 
 time that could be done the injury 
 would have been effected and irrepar- 
 able loss sustained. The reasons given 
 by the trial judges of the Court of Ap- 
 peal for upholding the apeai were that 
 although the ruling was reasonable and 
 wise, yet parliament alone should 
 change the policy expressed in this Sec- 
 tion 254 of the Act. 
 
 About Fences 
 
 Now, while sub-section 3 of this sec- 
 tion clearly states that: "Such fences, 
 gates and cattle guards shall be suit- 
 able and sufficient to prevent cattle and 
 other animals from getting on the rail- 
 way," yet it is very plain to all those 
 who have to do with these that they 
 are not suitable or sufficient, especially 
 the cattle guards. We do not know of 
 any authority whose judgment would 
 be infallible as to what is~ suitable and 
 sufficient, but we ask that another 
 clause be added making the presence of 
 uncontrolled animals anywhere on the 
 right-of-way, other than on a public 
 crossing, prima facie proof that these 
 fences and guards are not suitable and 
 sufficient, unless the company can prove 
 that these animals gained entrance by 
 way of private gates or crossings care- 
 lessly left open by the owners or agents 
 of the owners of the cattle or the 
 property. 
 
 Sub-section No. 1 of Section No. 294, 
 which prohibits cattle from running at 
 large within one half mile of a railway 
 crossing on a public highway, has evi- 
 dently been inserted in the act tp pre- 
 vent accidents when such accidents are 
 caused by animals being on the cross- 
 
 43 
 
ings. This would seem to be a wise 
 provision and we would not object to 
 it if it were not used by the railway 
 companies to evade payment of just 
 claims. 
 
 Burden Not On Railroads 
 
 Taking this in connection with Sub- 
 sections 3, 4 and 5 of Section 254, it 
 might appear to a casual observer, or 
 posibly to those who framed the law, 
 that the burden of proof is placed upon 
 the company and that the right to re- 
 cover is preserved to the owner. This, 
 .how^veiy is how, it works out. When 
 thp.^ employees jof the company, whose 
 Iduty jt isj.io. rjeport; to the couipany of 
 jStockr injured,, make their report .they 
 seem to almost invariably report that 
 , the stoek had been running at large, 
 without having made any investigation. 
 At least, we may infer that it is the 
 case from the replies of -the claims 
 agents, who almost invariably state 
 that, according to information they 
 have received, these animals were .run- 
 ning at large and that in consequence 
 of this the railway company interested 
 is not liable; so that if the owner can- 
 not positively prove that his animals 
 got on the track out of his enclosed 
 land through a defective fence, he has 
 no chance whatever, though he may be 
 morally certain that they did go through 
 the fence. Unless he has a witness who 
 saw them do so he can do nothing. This 
 might not appear to be the meaning of 
 the Act, but with the so-called informa- 
 tion in the hands of the company, 
 should it be reliable or unreliable, the 
 company can take the advantage of it 
 in establishing that the animals were 
 running at large. Sheltering themselves 
 behind this, the companies make no pro- 
 vision whatever by way of suitable and 
 sufficient cattle guards, as thousands 
 can testify. 
 
 Burden on Farmers 
 
 No farmer would dare to set the law 
 in motion against a powerful railway 
 company, and as a result we have seen 
 men who were almost ruined become 
 almost desperate. We have seen quiet, 
 inoffensive, industrious, law-abiding citi- 
 zens transformed, at least for the time 
 being, into raging, implacable foes of 
 the government, smarting as they were 
 under a sense of the injustice meted out 
 to them. When we have approached 
 the higher authorities and asked that 
 the- law be amended or that at least an 
 interpretation be given that would pro- 
 tect us we were repulsed by being told 
 that we were suffering because of the 
 consequence of our own acts. We have 
 
 been told that the law as regards pri- 
 vate crossings is just and reasonable, 
 but we are not complaining of the law 
 on private crossings, except sub-sections 
 "B" and "C" of Section 295, which 
 takes away the owners' right of action 
 if any trespasser or outsider whatever 
 has tampered with the fence. We do 
 not want to hide ourselves behind the 
 carelessness or negligence of anyone, 
 but we want a law that wiD protect 
 our property against needless destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 Defects of Act 
 
 We would respectfully point out that 
 the act is: 
 
 1. Defective in the respect that no 
 full provision is made for the fencing 
 of the right-of-way while the railway 
 is under construction, thus throwing a 
 man 's farm open without any protection 
 whatever. 
 
 2. Defective in no provision being 
 made for compelling suitable fences 
 and guards, the only competent test of 
 such being their ability to keep animals 
 off the track. 
 
 S. Defective in leaving it open for 
 the railways to evade payment of just 
 claims by bluffing or outlawing the 
 claimant with a counter-claim that his 
 animals were running at large. 
 
 4. Defective in barring the owner of 
 right of action where any trespasser or 
 person other than an officer or employee 
 has taken down any part of the rail- 
 way fence or wilfully opened any gate. 
 This we claim is the right of the rail- 
 way company to take care of and keep 
 in order, no matter who injures it, 
 especially as the act elsewhere provides 
 a penalty Jipon anyone causing such 
 injury. 
 
 5. Defective in not making the com- 
 pany liable for losses arising out of ani- 
 mals being injured, such as others in 
 the herd being driven or scared away 
 and lost; crops being destroyed by the 
 animals being scared or forced in or 
 loss of the use of work animals in con- 
 sequence of the injury. 
 
 Should Require Yearly Report 
 
 We would therefore respectfully sub- 
 mit that all railways be required to 
 make a certified report each year of 
 all animals killed or injured on its lines 
 during the year, with full description 
 of the locality where the accident oc- 
 curred, together with the amount of 
 claims paid. . We have reason to be- 
 lieve that thousands of cases are never 
 reported in such a way that the public 
 can have knowledge of it. We would 
 
also ask that the railways be required 
 to construct all necessary crossings and 
 approaches thereto at the same time 
 that the line is under construction so 
 that residents in the vicinity or other 
 travellers be not put to unnecessary 
 inconvenience. 
 
 Extend Commission's Power 
 
 Above all we would ask that the 
 power of the Railway Commission be 
 extended or an independent court ap- 
 pointed, giving them more complete jur- 
 isdiction over stock-killing cases or 
 fencing right-of-way, or any such cases 
 as may arise between the railways and 
 the people, with the right to try such 
 cases and award judgment. We would 
 also suggest that the following amend-" 
 ments be made to the Railway Act 
 during the present session of parlia- 
 ment: 
 
 (1). That Section 254 be amended 
 by incorporating therein the recommen- 
 dation and orders of the Railway Com- 
 mission as contained in Order No. 7473, 
 dated May 4, 1909, and signed by Hon. 
 J. P. Mabee, chief commissioner of the 
 Board of Railway Commissioners, with 
 the addition that the presence of un- 
 controlled animals on railway property 
 be prima facie evidence that the fences 
 or guards are not suitable and suffi- 
 cient. 
 
 (2). That Section 294 be amended by 
 repealing Section 8 of the Act 9-10 
 Edward VII., Chapter 50, of the Act 
 to amend the Railway Act, Chapter 37 
 of the Revised Statutes, 1906, and sub- 
 stituting for sub-section 4 6f said Sec- 
 tion 294 the following: 
 
 "4. When any horses, sheep, swine 
 or other cattle get upon the property 
 or lands of the company and by rea- 
 son thereof damage is caused to or 
 by such animal, the party suffering 
 such damage shall, except in the cases 
 otherwise provided for by the next 
 following section, be entitled to re- 
 cover the amount of such damage 
 against the company in any action in 
 any court of competent jurisdiction; 
 and, anything to the contrary in this 
 section notwithstanding, the fact that 
 such animal was permitted to be at 
 large contrary to the provisions of 
 this section, or that such animal got 
 at large through the negligence or 
 any act or omission of the owner or 
 agent, or of the custodian of such 
 animal or his agent shallnot deprive 
 the owner of his right to recover; 
 provided, however, that Nothing here- 
 in shall be taken or construed as re- 
 lieving any person from the penalties 
 imposed by Section 407 of this Act." 
 
 Other Amendments 
 
 (3). That Section 295 of the Rail- 
 way Act, 1906, be amended as follows: 
 (a) By inserting at the beginning of 
 sub-section. B the following words: 
 ' ' Any person for whose use any farm 
 crossing is furnished, ' ' placing such 
 words before the first word of the sub- 
 section — "wilfully"; (b) By amending 
 sub-section C by adding thereto after 
 the word "fence" where it appears in 
 the third line of said sub-section, the 
 following words: "Provided, however, 
 that it shall be the duty of an officer 
 or employee of the company to keep 
 such fences in good and proper repair." 
 
 Excessive Tolls 
 
 The third question to which we would 
 refer you is the excessive railway tolls, 
 both passenger and freight, which are 
 burdens keenly felt by farmers all over 
 Canada. There are certain provisions 
 of the Railway Act, however, which 
 enable the companies to bring these 
 burdens to bear on certain localities 
 with more than doubly greater weight 
 and the provisions of which they take 
 advantage to bring into action a vicious 
 principle of discrimination are: 
 
 The allowance of competitive rates 
 and the consideration of which is 
 termed density of traffic as a factor in 
 framing their tariffs. We may well 
 believe that railways will not choose 
 to charge anything less than a profit- 
 able rate, even where competition ex- 
 ists, so that they should not be per- 
 mitted to charge more in localities 
 where competition does not exist, or 
 putting it in another form — each com- 
 pany will endeavor to make the maxi- 
 mum amount of profit and if they are 
 permitted to cut rates because of com- 
 petition they will be sure to find ex- 
 cuse to make it up where there is no 
 competition. 
 
 Rates Discriminative 
 
 While it does not appear to us that 
 there is anything in the Act which ex- 
 pressly permits the regulation of the 
 tariffs in accordance with the density 
 of traffic, yet we well know that it is 
 done and that a sufficiently liberal in- 
 terpretation of the Act is permitted to 
 enable them to do this so that while 
 presumably the Act forbids discrimina- 
 tion, yet under the Act discrimination 
 is carried on. The Act forbids, and 
 rightly so, "any reduction or advance 
 in any tolls either directly or indirectly 
 in favor of or against any particular 
 person or company." The same prin- 
 ciple and restrictions should obtain 
 
 45 
 
when applied to localities/ "The Act 
 gives the inference that the same prin- 
 ciple should obtain as to localities 
 under similar circumstances, and here 
 the question arises, what are similar 
 circumstances! We reply that density 
 of traffic and competition should never 
 be taken to mean that circumstances 
 are not similar. 
 
 The Act says, "that no toll.shall.be 
 charged which unjustly discriminates 
 between localities," yet it permits dis- 
 crimination in favor of localities where 
 competition exists or where the traffic is 
 dense, even although that density is caused 
 very largely by trade going further on, 
 and is charged a higher proportionate rate 
 before reaching its destination. 
 
 Abuses Creep In 
 
 This is a condition of things which leaves 
 the way open for many abuses to creep in, 
 and we have good reason to know that 
 many abuses have made their way in, 
 the effects of which are severely felt. 
 Although it is made illegal for railways to 
 give concessions to particular persons or 
 companies, yet this can be done by giving 
 concessions to localities where these par- 
 ticular persons or companies have the 
 chief interest in the business. 
 
 If it is wrong to allow persons to pur- 
 chase cheap rates to the detriment of 
 others then it is wrong to aUow places this 
 privilege, yet it is openly done, and it has 
 been openly argued by railway lawyers 
 before the commission that they were 
 justified, in giving discriminatory rates 
 because of this. 
 
 New Sections Burdened 
 
 Thus, on account of the people's 
 interests not being sufficiently safe- 
 guarded by the Act in this respect, the 
 evils of this system become intensified in 
 localities where they are least able to bear 
 it. It might appear that in newly settled 
 sections of the country the railways should 
 throw out inducements to encourage 
 trade, but their policy seems to be the 
 very reverse, for where no competition 
 exists they charge to the limit and often 
 exceeding it. they make trade prohibitive. 
 This is especially true where they are 
 required to carry trade in opposite direc- 
 tions to the localities they wish to favor 
 or to or from points they wish to dis- 
 courage or in any direction that tends to 
 shorten their own haul, and giving it to 
 rival carrying companies, thus completely 
 ignoring the rights of the people. They 
 then advance the argument that circum- 
 stances are not similar and work that 
 argument for all it is worth and more. 
 
 They sometimes make the claim that 
 the cost of construction and operation 
 
 is greater in these localites, but will no 
 give the public any information as to what 
 that cost really is. They sometimes claim 
 to be at a disadvantage in working in 
 these localities, but grants and_ concessions 
 have been given them many times greater 
 than their disadvantages. Many in- 
 stances can be given where discrimination 
 exists to the extent of over 100%, and in- 
 credible as it may seem even to the extent 
 of 800 per cent., thus prohibiting trade 
 between neighboring localities and re- 
 tarding the development of the country. 
 
 Give Complete Jurisdiction 
 
 We believe that the railway commission 
 should be given more complete jurisdiction 
 in this and in aU matters of dispute 
 between the railways and the people, 
 and that at the same time the law should 
 be more clearly defined for their guidance 
 in these matters. On account of the public 
 character of the railways they should not 
 be permitted to discriminate against any 
 part of the public or against any locality. 
 Every precaution should be taken to guard 
 against this, for while the same men 
 who are financially interested in the rail- 
 ways are financially interested in other 
 lines of trade and commerce then the 
 incentive to discriminate will remain. 
 
 A feeling of indignation has been growing 
 for many years among the farmers and of 
 late has been gaining much added strength, 
 indignation because of the railways being 
 permitted to practice what has been called 
 "watering their stock" and then raising 
 their tariffs to a level that will give a 
 profit on this fictitious capital. The 
 feeling is widespread that the time has 
 come when this should cease. 
 
 We believe the time has come when 
 true physical valuation should be taken 
 of aU the different railways operating in 
 Canada to be used as a basis of fixing the 
 rates, and that the information so ob- 
 tained be placed in the hands of the public. 
 
 Report Summarized 
 
 In summarizing this portion of the 
 report we would therefore request: 
 
 1. That the principle of fixing the 
 tariffs in accordance with the competition 
 of other roads or the density of traffic 
 or volume of business handled be disal- 
 lowed. 
 
 2. That a true physical valuation be 
 taken of all railways operating in Canada 
 this valuation to be used as a basis of 
 fixing the rates, and the information to be 
 available to the public. 
 
 S. That the board of railway commis- 
 sioners be given complete jurisdiction 
 in these matters as weU as in all other 
 matters of dispute between the railways 
 and the people, and to enable them to do 
 this that the law be more clearly defined. 
 
 46 
 
CO-OPERATIVE LEGISLATION 
 
 Mr. McCuaig: — The next subject we have to bring before you is 
 that of Co-operative legislation. The resolution upon that subject 
 reads as follows: 
 
 ' 'Resolved, that in the opinion of this 
 convention it is desirable that cheap and 
 efficient machinery for the incorporation 
 
 of co-operative societies should he pro- 
 vided by Federal legislation during the 
 present session of parliament." 
 
 I will call upon Mr. E. J. Fream, of Innisfail, Alberta, Secretary 
 of the United Farmers of Alberta, and a member of the Canadian 
 Council of Agriculture, to address you. 
 
 Mr. Fream's Address 
 
 Mr. Fream: — To the Bight Honorable 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister 
 of Canada; the Members of the 
 Government and the Members of 
 the House of Commons — 
 In a country so vast as Canada matters 
 which might be suggested as falling to the 
 provinces in so far as legislation is con- 
 cerned, must necessarily require attention 
 from the Dominion government. At the 
 present time the question which is proba- 
 bly of moment to all Canadians, and which 
 can be included in this class, is that of 
 co-operative legislation. 
 
 In a country of magnificent distances it 
 is inevitable that transportation charges 
 add greatly to the cost of most of the arti- 
 cles in every day use among the settlers 
 in the thinly settled portions of the 
 country. There are other charges which 
 can be added to the cost ef these articles, 
 and these include the present system of 
 supply and distribution, which is not 
 to the benefit of the producer or consumer. 
 
 Charges Eliminated 
 
 These extra charges, could, we believe, 
 be largely eliminated by the intreduction 
 of an intelligent method of co-operation, 
 and we would therefore ask that you in- 
 troduce as a government measure, an 
 efficient Act providing for the incorpora- 
 tion of co-operative societies, no matter 
 whether it may be a large or a small one. 
 Other interests have been allowed to or- 
 ganize under a Dominion law, and wh'le 
 we.do not ask for legislation which will 
 permit a control or give any special privi- 
 leges, still we believe that we should be 
 allowed to organize and carry on business 
 if we are desirous of doing so. 
 
 Efforts have been made toward organi- 
 zing "co-operative societies, but it is nec- 
 essary that if the future efforts are to be 
 crowned with success then this legislation 
 
 must be enacted. It might not be amiss 
 for us to draw attention to the conditions 
 which have prevailed in this country. 
 In the days of the early development 
 of the Eastern provinces not only were the 
 farming and laboring classes subject to 
 the disadvantage and limitations found in 
 a new country, but all other interests were 
 also in a pioneer stage, and had to make 
 their growth with the country. In the 
 opening of the newer parts of the Domin- 
 ion conditions are altogether different. 
 Powerful corporations control every 
 avenue of trade and commerce, and by 
 combining prices they are able to take 
 undue advantage of the helplessness of 
 both the producer and consumer, who 
 under present conditions are compelled 
 to submit. 
 
 Denmark Methods 
 
 The co-operative movement is world- 
 wide, and in some countries, notably 
 Great Britain and Denmark, much has 
 been done to bring the producer and con- 
 sumer together. In fact in Denmark 
 this has been carried on to such an extent 
 that the middlemen have been almost 
 completely eliminated. 
 
 Last year two co-operative bills were 
 introduced into Parliament by private 
 members, and although they apparently 
 found favor with the majority of the mem- 
 bers, still for some reason which has 
 not been satisfactorily explained these 
 bills did not become law. We are given 
 to understand that co-operative legislatien 
 will again be introduced during the present 
 session by a private member, but, Sir, 
 knowing the limitations of the present 
 system of government, and the fact that 
 it is almost an impossibility to secure the 
 passage of what might be called * public 
 b'll when introduced by a private member, 
 we would ask you to give this matter 
 
 47 
 
your serious consideration, and we request 
 that your government will introduce 
 and pass during the present session, 
 efficient legislation which will permit the 
 organization of co-operative societies. 
 
 Demand not Unreasonable 
 
 We do not tnink that this is an un- 
 reasonable request, as legislation of this 
 kind does not call for the compulsory 
 establishment of these societies, but as 
 it will be permisive only then the residents 
 of any district will be able to determine 
 themselves whether they will be incor- 
 porated or not. It may be said that it 
 is possible to organize so-called small co- 
 operative societies under provincial legis- 
 lation governing joint stock companies, 
 but it is found in practice that to do this 
 
 it is necessary to resort to several plans 
 and to engage legal help to prepare con- 
 stititions and general rules which will 
 meet these cases. 
 
 Seeing that this proposed legislation 
 will effect no interests we are fully justified 
 in asking for this legislation, and to bring 
 to your attention the many demands 
 received from all parts of the country. 
 
 In conclusion we would draw your at- 
 tention to the fact that there should be 
 one uniform law regulating the operation 
 of co-operative societies in the develop- 
 ment of what i? known as the co-operative 
 movement in Canada, and that such legis- 
 lation will be for the general benefit of 
 Canada. We desire to state that we en- 
 dorse this co-operative movement and wish 
 to emphasize the fact that it will be of 
 immense benefit to the whole of Canada, 
 
 THE BANK ACT 
 
 D. "W. McCuaig: — I have next a resolution on the Bank Act, 
 There will be no speakers to this resolution, but I will simply read it. 
 
 "Whereas, it is generally believed 
 that the Bank act, forming, as it does, 
 the charter of all Canadian banks for 
 a ten year term, by its present phrasing 
 prevents any amendment involving cur- 
 tailment of their powers enjoyed by 
 
 virtue of the provisions of such charter, 
 be it resolved: 
 
 "That this Ottawa convention of 
 delegates desire that the new Bank act 
 be so worded as to permit the act to be 
 amended at any time and in any par- 
 ticular." 
 
 THE TARIFF 
 
 D. TV. McCuaig: — We now come to the last thing we have on 
 our list, and I may say that it is the most important of all the things 
 we have asked for today. It refers, Sir, to the customs tariff;. The 
 tariff case as passed at our convention is embodied in the following 
 statement which is signed by the president and secretary of the 
 Canadian Council of Agriculture: 
 
 "This delegation, representative of 
 the agricultural interests of Canada, de- 
 sire to approach you upon the question 
 of the bearing of the Canadian customs 
 tariff. 
 
 "We come, asking no favors at your 
 hands. We bear with us no feeling of 
 antipathy towards any other line of 
 industrial life. We welcome within the 
 limits of Canada's broad domain every 
 legitimate form of industrial enterprise, 
 but in view of the fact that the further 
 progress and development of the agri- 
 cultural industry is of such vital im- 
 portance to the general welfare of the 
 state, that all other Canadian industries 
 
 are so dependent upon its success, that 
 its constant condition forms the great 
 barometer of trade, we consider its 
 operations should no longer be hampered 
 by tariff restrictions. 
 
 "And in view of the favorable ap- 
 proaches already made through Presi- 
 dent Taft and the American Government 
 looking towards more friendly trade re- 
 lations between Canada and the United 
 States this memorial takes form as 
 follows: 
 
 "1. That we strongly favor recipro- 
 cal Free Trade between Canada and the 
 United States in all horticultural, agri- 
 cultural and animal products, spraying 
 
 48 
 
materials, fertilizers, illuminating, fuel 
 and lubricating oils, cement, fish and 
 lumber. 
 
 "2. Reciprocal free trade between 
 the two countries in all agricultural im- 
 plements, machinery, vehicles and parts 
 of each of these; and in the event of a 
 favorable arrangement being reached, 
 it be carried into effect through the 
 independent action of the respective 
 governments, rather than by the hard 
 and fast requirements of a treaty. 
 
 "3. We also favor the principle of 
 the British preferential tariff, and urge 
 an immediate lowering of the duties on 
 all British goods to one-half the rates 
 charged under the general tariff sched- 
 ule, whatever that may be; and that any 
 trade advantages given the United 
 States in reciprocal trade relations be 
 extended to Great Britain. 
 
 "4. For such further gradual reduc- 
 tion of the remaining preferential tariff 
 as will ensure the establishment of com- 
 plete free trade between Canada and the 
 Motherland within ten years. 
 
 "5. That the farmers of this coun- 
 try are willing to face direct taxation 
 
 in such form as may be advisable to 
 make up the revenue required under 
 new tariff conditions. 
 
 "Believing that the greatest mis- 
 fortune which can befall any country 
 is to have its people huddled together 
 in great centres of population, and that 
 the bearing of the present customs tar- 
 iff has the tendency to encourage that 
 condition, and realizing also that in 
 view of the constant movement of our 
 people away from the farms, the great- 
 est problem which presents itself to 
 Canadian people today is the problem 
 of retaining our people on the soil, we 
 come doubly assured of the justice of 
 our petition. 
 
 ' ' Trusting this memorial may meet 
 your favorable consideration, and that 
 the substance of its prayer be granted 
 with all reasonable despatch. 
 
 On behalf of the Canadian Council of 
 Agriculture. 
 
 (Sgd.) D. W. McCUAIG, President. 
 (Sgd.) E. C. DRTJRY, Secretary. 
 
 I will first call upon Mr. J. "W. Scallion, honorary president of 
 the Manitoba Grain Growers' Association, and a member of the 
 Canadian Council of Agriculture. 
 
 Mr. Scallion's Address 
 
 Mr. Scallion: — To the Bight Honorable 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister 
 of Canada; the Members of the 
 Government and the Members of 
 the House of Commons — 
 This delegation, representing the agri- 
 cultural interests of Canada and the great 
 body of the common people, desire to 
 congratulate you, Sir Wilfrid, on your 
 attaining your sixty-ninth birthday, and 
 trust that you w:ll continue to receive 
 expressions of kindness and good will 
 from all ovei the Empire on the recurrence 
 of many such occasions in the future. 
 We wish to thank you, Sir Wilfrid, for 
 having afforded us this opportunity of 
 presenting to you and your cabinet mini- 
 sters, and the members of parliament 
 present at this meeting, the farmers' 
 views and desires with respect to our 
 protective tariff and other questions of 
 vital importance to the agricultural and 
 general interests of the country. 
 
 Tariff a Burden 
 
 Our protective tariff is felt to be a 
 great burden upon the agricultural in- 
 dustry of Canada, and upon the great 
 
 body of consumers of protected commodi- 
 ties. When the tariff commission held 
 meetings of enquiry throughout the 
 country, some five years ago, the farmers 
 made their position on the tariff very clear; 
 they wanted no protection for their own 
 industry and strongly urged that the tariff 
 be reduced to a revenue basis. They 
 hold that opinion today more strongly, 
 if possible, than they did then. They are 
 willing to meet the requirements of a tax 
 framed to cover the public expenditure 
 of the Dominion, the proceeds from which, 
 less cost of collection, will go wholly into 
 the public treasury. But they strongly 
 protest against the further continuance 
 of a tariff which taxes them for the 
 special benefit of private interests. They 
 regard such a tariff as unsound in principle, 
 unjust and oppressive in its operation, 
 and nothing short of a system of legalized 
 robbery. Prices for the produce of the 
 farm are fixed in the markets of the world 
 by supply and demand, and free competi- 
 tion when these products are exported, 
 and the export price fixes the price for 
 home consumption, while the supplies 
 for the farm are purchased in a restricted 
 
 49 
 
market where prices are fixed by combina- 
 tions of manufacturers and other business 
 interests operating under the shelter of 
 our protective tariff. Such a fiscal system 
 is manifestly unjust and should be abol- 
 ished. 
 
 Protectionist Claims 
 
 It is claimed by the advocates of 
 protection that the system furnishes a 
 home market at good prices for the pro- 
 duce of the farm, and therefore is a com- 
 pensation to farmers for having to pay 
 higher for their supplies. But when it 
 U considered that during the fiscal year 
 ending 31st March last, markets had to be 
 found in foreign countries for $115,000,000 
 worth of the produce of our farms, in- 
 cluding animals and their products and 
 that our exports of such products will 
 largely increase as time goes on, for our 
 great West is only beginning to show 
 its capabilities for the production of hun- 
 dreds of millions of bushels of grain, and 
 hundreds of thousands of live stock and 
 other produce, and that the export price 
 fixes the price for home consumption, 
 the argument of a home market can only 
 be regarded as a joke. 
 
 Reciprocity 
 
 No trade arrangements which the 
 Canadian government could enter into 
 with any country would meet with greater 
 favor or stronger support from the farmers 
 of this country, than a wide measure of 
 reciprocal trade with the United States. 
 Such a trade arrangement, including man- 
 ufactured articles and the natural products 
 of both countries would give the Canadian 
 farmer a larger and more profitable mar- 
 ket in which to sell a great deal of their 
 produce, and a cheaper market in which 
 to buy a large quantity of their supplies. 
 This statement can be verified by a com- 
 parison of prices in both countries for 
 years. The prices for grain, live stock 
 and dairy produce under normal con- 
 ditions are much higher in the States than 
 on this side of the line. The importance 
 of an extension of our trade with the 
 United States has been- recognized time 
 and again by our statesmen, who, on 
 several occasions endeavored to secure a 
 wider measure of reciprocal trade with 
 that country. Until quite recently the 
 United States government was not favor- 
 able to the extension of freer trade rela- 
 tions with other countries. That policy 
 did not apply to Canada particularly, 
 as seme of our opponents of reciprocity 
 would have us believe, but was the policy 
 of the United States toward all nations. 
 A political party, pledged to a high tariff 
 has held power in the United States 
 almost continuously since the Civil War, 
 when the high tariff was adopted for the 
 
 purpose of meeting that war debt and the 
 powerful corporate and private interests 
 which came into existence and developed 
 under that tariff, and because of it, have 
 continued to exercise such control over 
 public men and legislation in that country 
 as to be able to prevent any successful 
 attempts to lower the tariff or enter into 
 freer trade relations with other countries. 
 But a change has taken place in public 
 opinion in the United States. The presi- 
 dent has asked our government to enter 
 into negotiations for the purpose of bring- 
 ing about freer trade relations between the 
 two countries. This action of the presi- 
 dent has been backed up by the people 
 of the United States in the recent elections 
 in that country. Negotiations between 
 the two governments looking to the exten- 
 sion of trade between the two countries 
 have begun. 
 
 Meet U.S. Half Way 
 
 This delegation, representing the agri- 
 cultural interests of Canada, strongly 
 urges our government to meet the United 
 States half way, and secure as large a 
 measure of reciprocal trade in manufac- 
 tured articles and the. natural products 
 of both countries as possible. Farmers 
 are aware that a general lowering of our 
 protective tariff and reciprocity with the 
 United States will be strongly opposed 
 by the united strength of the protected 
 interests which have grown wealthy and 
 powerful under our protective system. 
 Already their special pleaders among the 
 public press and in public life are pointing 
 6*ut the dangers to Canadian interests 
 and to British connection, of a treaty of 
 reciprocity with the United States. Our 
 shipping interests will be ruined, our great 
 transportation systems will be destroyed, 
 the quality of our grain will be lowered, 
 in fact general ruin will overtake us, all 
 of which, of course is very alarming to 
 those people, but which only exists and is 
 conjured up in the imagination of the 
 pleaders for special privilege. These 
 pleaders have no warrant for such state- 
 ments. This is clearly shown from the 
 fact that our trade with the United States 
 for the last fiscal year amounted to about 
 $350,000,000, nearly equal to our trade 
 with all other countries combined. Is 
 not that a valuable trade and of great 
 mutual benefit to both countries? Are 
 there any apparent dangers to the general 
 interests of Canada from that trade? 
 And if not, why should it3 extension 
 be not regarded as a great benefit to both 
 countries. We have made trade arrange- 
 ments with France, with Germany, and 
 other smaller countries, which is all very 
 well as far as it goes. We have subsidized 
 transportation companies to promote such 
 trade. Then why should we not endeavor 
 
 SO 
 
to enlarge our trade with the 90,000,000 
 of people right at our own door who afford 
 us the greatest market oi any country in 
 the woild — a market that *ill grow as the 
 population of that country increases. 
 
 It is stated that in entering into recip- 
 rocal trade with the United States, vested 
 rights must be protected, meaning, of 
 course, tKe rights of our protected manu- 
 facturers, but when the policy of protection 
 was adopted by the Canadian people. 
 it was with the understanding that as 
 soon as the protected industries had time 
 to develop and become firmly established, 
 protection would be withdrawn and the 
 people relieved from further taxation 
 for the benefit of private interests. We 
 think that protection should have been 
 removed years ago, and we think that now, 
 in the framing of a fiscal system intended 
 to do justice to every inte^st in the 
 
 matter of taxation, that so-called vested 
 rights founded and -developed upon a 
 system of unfair and unjust legal exactions 
 from the great body of the people, should 
 be given no consideration whatever. 
 
 We are in favor of an increase to 50 
 per cent, of the British Preference on all 
 imports from Britain, and favor a further 
 increase from time to time until the duty 
 on British imports is entirely abolished. 
 We do not regard with favor the suggested 
 appointment of a tariff commission. 
 All that such a commission could find out 
 with regard to the effects of the tariff 
 upon the different industries and interests 
 of the great body of the people is already 
 well known. What is wanted is a general 
 lowering of the tariff without any unnec- 
 essary delay. I beg to submit this state- 
 ment to the government for its early and 
 earnest consideration. 
 
 Mr. McCuaig: — I will now call upon Mr. E. C. Drury, Master of 
 the Dominion Grange of Ontario, and Secretary of the Canadian 
 Council of Agriculture. 
 
 Mr. Drury's Address 
 
 Mr. Drury: — The Right Honorable 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister 
 of Canada; the Members of the 
 Government and the Members of 
 the House of Commons — 
 
 . In presenting this memorial on the 
 question of the tariff, a memorial pre- 
 pared and unanimously endorsed by the 
 largest and most representative congress 
 of farmers ever held in the Dominion of 
 Canada, representing every province, and 
 nearly every phase of agriculture from the 
 Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, I wish 
 to assure you that we do not approach the 
 question with any ill-feeling towards our 
 manufacturers, nor with any undue regard 
 to our own interests, but with the firm 
 belief that the justice we demand is in the 
 best interests, not only of Canadian 
 agriculture, but of our young nation as a. 
 whole. 
 
 There can be no question that our 
 greatest national asset, both material and 
 social, is found in the farms of our country. 
 Our agricultural resources are our greatest 
 national gifts, an asset that with proper 
 management under an intelligent and 
 prosperous farm population will increase, 
 rather than "decrease in value from year 
 to year, forming a firm and enduring 
 basis of national well-being. .Oar farm 
 homes, with their great possibilities for 
 good, physically, intelligently and morally, 
 .must always be. a most important factor 
 in our national life, while a sturdy, pros- 
 
 perous, and contented farming class must 
 always be our best safeguard against 
 invasion from without or decay from 
 within. 
 
 There can be no questioning the fact 
 that agriculture is not prospering in 
 Canada as it should at the present time. 
 It is customary in certain quarters to 
 refer to the lack of intelligence and 
 enterprise among the farmers themselves 
 as the cause Of this condition. This 
 however, is not entirely in accord with 
 the facts. No class in the country has 
 shown itself more thrifty or industrious, 
 more willing to take advantage of every 
 opportunity to learn and apply improved 
 methods, or more ready to adapt itself to 
 changed conditions. The simple facts 
 must be' faced that, in spite of these 
 things, "agriculture has failed to hold its 
 own. Agricultural population has stead- 
 ily decreased for the last thirty years in 
 every province east of Manitoba, while 
 even in. the Western provinces, town 
 population has increased at a faster rate 
 than that of the farms. It is useless to 
 point to the settling of the West as the 
 cause of the Eastern decrease. That has 
 no doubt been contributory, but cannot 
 account for the greater part of the de- 
 crease. It is equally useless- to suggest 
 the use of improved , machinery as a 
 possible cause. That largely explains 
 rural depopulation under such conditions 
 as prevail in England where agriculture 
 
 51 
 
was fully developed before the introduc- 
 tion of labor-saving machinery and where 
 every piece of improved machinery dis- 
 placed human labor on the farms. In 
 Canada the ease is entirely different. 
 Simultaneously with the introduction of 
 improved machinery, has come the special- 
 ization of agriculture, calling for more men 
 in our dairy, fruit and mixed farming, even 
 with improved machinery than were ever 
 required under the old .conditions of 
 grain farming. We must attribute these 
 movements of population, disastrous as 
 they must prove to our national well- 
 being, to the effect of a tariff which 
 encourages city industries at the expense 
 of agriculture. 
 
 The farmers of Canada do not ask for 
 any tariff favors. We realize clearly that 
 these can be of little value to us. Practi- 
 cal farmers, engaged in nearly all the 
 varied lines of agriculture, and prominent 
 in these lines, will follow me and give their 
 testimony to the truth of this statement. 
 We do, however, ask to be relieved of 
 the burdens imposed upon us by a pro- 
 tective tariff which prevents foreign 
 competition, and allows our manufac- 
 turers to raise their prices above those 
 which would exist under free competition. 
 That they do so raise them, in most cases 
 to the full extent allowed by the tariff, is 
 very plain. The artificial burden thus 
 imposed on the farmer is very considerable, 
 and is quite sufficient to account for the 
 decrease in rural population. 
 
 Protection is no lqnger needed to 
 encourage infant industries, and in many 
 cases, the present tariff. actually works to 
 discourage the expansion of manufacturing 
 by encouraging the formation of combines 
 whose interest it is to keep the market 
 understocked and which offer a far more 
 terrible competition to a concern outside 
 the combine, than it could possibly find 
 under free trade conditions. Our anti- 
 combine law is no remedy for this condi- 
 tion because of the difficulty, without 
 incurring heavy expenses, of gathering 
 sufficient evidence to establish a prima 
 facie case, even where we are sure a 
 combine esisits. Besides, there is little 
 doubt that our manufacturing concerns, 
 many of them very dropsical, are in many 
 
 cases paying unduly large dividends. I 
 am speaking of conditions on which the 
 public can get but little light, but what 
 little light has been shed on the question 
 shows this statement to be true. In at 
 least one case, a government blue-book 
 is responsible for the statement that one 
 large concern engaged in an industry 
 which has been one of our most persistent 
 beggars for tariff favors, was able to 
 declare a dividend of fifty per cent, on the 
 cost of its common stock, in the same year 
 that it issued a circular complaining of 
 lack of prosperity due to insufficient tariff 
 protection. We believe this is not an 
 isolated case. 
 
 Under these circumstances, we appeal 
 to you to right a condition which we 
 believe to be not only unjust to our 
 industry, but injurious to our national 
 well-being. Our demands have received 
 the ful lest consideration, and we are 
 preparedflo urge them most strongly. 
 We believe them reasonable and we hope 
 for early action in the direction of granting 
 our desires. 
 
 In asking that every means consistent 
 with our national honor be taken to 
 secure free trade with our southern 
 neighbor in agricultural products and 
 implements, we believe we are not unjust 
 to our manufacturers of implements. 
 The greater competition in farm imple- 
 ments and the wider markets in farm 
 products, must prove of the greatest 
 advantage to our farmers, both East and 
 West. 
 
 In the increased British preference, 
 with ultimate free trade with England, 
 we look for relief from the general tariff 
 burden. To this proposal we hope for 
 little opposition from our manufacturers, 
 since it gives them an opportunity to show 
 in a practical form, what their much 
 vaunted loyalty to the Empire amounts 
 to. 
 
 In closing, I would wish to impress upon 
 you the fact that there is no division of 
 feeling between the farmers of the East 
 and West on the Tariff question. This 
 delegation, and the convention preceding 
 it, prove conclusively that the East and 
 West are entirely one on this great 
 question. 
 
 Mr. McCuaig: — I will now call upon Mr. Thos. McMillan, of 
 Seaforth, Ont., representing the Dominion Grange of Ontario. 
 
 Mr. McMillan's Address 
 
 Mr. McMillan: — To the Bight Honor- 
 able Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Mem- 
 bers of the Government, and the 
 Members of the House of Commons — 
 In offering a few remarks upon the 
 
 bearing of the provisions of the present 
 
 customs tariff and the amendments con- 
 tained in the changes proposed in the 
 prayer of our petition, I do so from the 
 standpoint of the general Ontario 
 farmer engaged in the live stock 
 
industry in connection with a system 
 of mixed farm husbandry. 
 
 Although for years the Ontario 
 farmer has borne the burden of the 
 injurious effect of the Canadian cus- 
 toms tariff, yet the fact remains that 
 any enactment of a government which 
 perpetuates an injustice upon the great 
 body of the people will move down. The 
 people may rest under the injustice for 
 a time, but even without further provo- 
 cation the dissatisfaction bursts forth 
 again. 
 
 The actual effect of this present tariff 
 has not only been to take a margin of 
 millions out of the pockets of the great 
 body of the people and place those mil- 
 lions into the hands of a few, but it 
 also -acts as a serious handicap upon 
 the operations of the agriculturist. As 
 that petition truly sets f orth,"the farmer 
 bears no feeling of antipathy towards 
 any other line of industrial life. He 
 welcomes within our border every legiti- 
 mate form of industrial effort, but why 
 should agriculture be called, as it is 
 under the tariff, to pay tribute to 
 any other form of industry! The 
 farmer is being told continually that 
 he should not complain, that our manu- 
 facturers employ the workmen who fur- 
 nish a great home market for his prod- 
 uts, but the fact remains that, from 
 the testimony of the manufacturers 
 themselves, in several lines it would pay 
 the people of Canada well to take the 
 margin which this customs tariff causes 
 them to pay, and with it pension the 
 workmen in those lines to the full ex- 
 tent of the wages they receive, and 
 they would still have money to the good. 
 
 No Favors Asked 
 
 We come before you asking no favors, 
 but we claim tlrat agriculture should, 
 under the tariff, be placed upon an 
 equal footing with the other industrial 
 enterprises of the land. If this petition 
 were to ask that the agricultural 
 industry be allowed its supplies of raw 
 material either free or at the lowest 
 possible rates of duty, it would only 
 be asking that agriculture be allowed 
 to share one-half the privileges which, 
 for thirty years, have, under the pro- 
 visions of the tariff, been enjoyed by 
 many lines of manufacturing industry. 
 
 Why do I say so? Study the provi- 
 sions of the tariff and, on the one hand, 
 we find that it gives the manufacturers 
 a margin of all the way from 15 to 35 
 per cent, on their goods as against foT- 
 eign competjition in the home market. 
 As against "that '-margin of profit we 
 ask nothing. We are willing, in the 
 
 ><ale of our products, to meet the open 
 competition of the world 
 
 Study the other side of the tariff and 
 we find that at every convenient time 
 manufacturers are given their raw ma- 
 terials either free or at the lowest pos- 
 sible rates of duty. That is right. We 
 fully endorse the action of your gov- 
 ernment in this respect. But why should 
 agriculture be debarred from sharing 
 the same privileges, which, in this re- 
 spect, our manufacturers enjoy? Surely 
 it is not because in your estimation the 
 agriculture of Canada is a secondarv 
 industry! Mark you, gentlemen, we do 
 not for a moment insinuate that you 
 would deliberately sit down and frame 
 a tariff which would burden this all- 
 important industry. We know some- 
 thing of this cause. We are proud of 
 the good work which Mr. Fisher and 
 the department of agriculture have done 
 in bringing to such full perfection our 
 transportation equipment, and we are 
 only sorry that our hampered condition 
 prevents our reaping its advantages to 
 the fullest degree. The situation of the 
 agriculturist of Canada is such that on 
 the one hand we find our departments 
 of agriculture, both local and federal, 
 insisting that we farm more intensively, 
 underdrain our lands, till our soil bet- 
 ter, keep more live stock and employ 
 more labor, while on the other hand we 
 find upon the statute books of our coun- 
 try a statutory provision which has the 
 effect of seriously reducing our margin 
 of profit, taking our labor away from us 
 and piling our people together in great 
 centres of population. 
 
 Willing to Compete 
 
 The farmer is willing to meet any 
 legitimate competition in the labor mar- 
 kets of the country. He does not wish 
 to underpay his workmen. His desire 
 is to remunerate them well. But when 
 he is compelled to face a statutory pro- 
 vision which takes from him a margin 
 of millions, and those millions are em- 
 ployed in competing with him for his 
 own farm labor, he cannot stand an un- 
 just competition such as that. As the 
 result of . those conditions, farm labor 
 has now become so very scarce that the 
 labor of the farm cannot be properly 
 accomplished; the general farmer of 
 today sees nothing ahead but continuous 
 toil. His family becomes dissatisfied. 
 The constant tendency is to leave the 
 old homestead, and as a final result in 
 some of the fairest portions of Ontario, 
 we find almost .as much farm property 
 for sale as at any previous period in 
 our history. 
 
When we are face to face with con- 
 ditions such as these, when we see the 
 sturdy yeomanry of Ontario gradually 
 deserting the farms, when we know that 
 the greatest misfortune which can be- 
 fall any country is to have its people 
 huddled together in great centres of 
 population, and that the bearing of this 
 present customs tariff has the tendency 
 to encourage that condition, is it not 
 the bounden duty of the government 
 to endeavor to make all the conditions 
 surrounding agriculture as favorable as 
 they possibly can? 
 
 In endorsing the prayer of that peti- 
 tion we believe that if a favorable 
 reciprocal trade arrangement can be ob- 
 tained with the government of the 
 United States whereby animals and 
 their products as well as all agricultural 
 produce would be allowed free access 
 to those great consuming centres, it 
 would certainly give a great impetus to 
 the agricultural industry. The progres- 
 sive farmer of today must be a manu- 
 facturer in the truest sense of the term. 
 He must be a manufacturer of high 
 class products, such as highly finished 
 live stock of all kinds, beef, bacon, 
 mutton, poultry, eggs and cream, butter 
 and cheese. 
 
 American Prices Better 
 
 Study the American live stock mar- 
 kets and we find that the best beef 
 animals as a general rule sell from at 
 least $1 to $1.50 per cwt. more than our 
 prices in Toronto. Xone of that high 
 class beef is shipped abroad. It is all 
 consumed by the wealthier classes at 
 home. Ontario farmers are able to 
 compete with the world in the produc- 
 tion of high class beef, and if we could 
 obtain access to that great market we 
 would be able to enter the best market 
 of the world, which lies right at our 
 very door. We would not then be, as 
 we are now, practically shut out of our 
 markets for six months of the year by 
 
 the long overland railway journey which 
 precedes the ocean voyage to the Brit- 
 ish market. In short, it would do more 
 for the beef cattle industry in Ontario 
 than all the! government enactment of 
 a generation. In the other products I 
 have named, speaking generally (with 
 the exception of live hogs which often 
 rule about the same), prices are invar- 
 iably higher than in our own Canadian 
 markets. Prominent men, in their ig- 
 norance of the real requirements of an 
 advancing agriculture, have described 
 these articles as but ' ' the minor prod- 
 ucts" of the farm, but, gentlemen, I 
 want to impress upon you the fact that 
 these productions constitute the very 
 right arm of a permanently successful 
 agriculture. 
 
 Turning to the increased preference 
 which we desire to give to the goods 
 of Great Britain, we do not earry our 
 loyalty upon our lips but hasten, in a 
 practical way, to show our gratitude for 
 the open door of the splendid treatment 
 which we have always received at the 
 hands of the Mother Land. As farmers 
 and workingmen ourselves, we would 
 scorn to ask that any burden be placed 
 upon our fellow workers of the British 
 Isles by even suggesting tkat the bread 
 of her laboring men should be taxed 
 for our benefit. 
 
 In conclusion, gentlemen, let me say 
 we resent tie insinuation that trading 
 with our American cousins will render 
 us less loyal citizens of Canada and the 
 Empire. Any person who thinks that 
 the loyalty of the Canadian people is 
 nothing better than simply a commer- 
 cial commodity to be bartered away, 
 very much under-estimates the temper 
 and spirit of true Canadianism. Let us 
 trade where and with whomsoever we 
 may. There are no people on the face 
 of this globe today who, if occasion 
 demanded, would manifest a. truer and 
 a nobler national spirit than the free 
 people who find their homes on the face 
 of Canadian soil. 
 
 Mr. McCuaig : — I will now call upon Col. J. Z. Fraser, of Burford, 
 Ont., to address you. 
 
 Col. Fraser's Address 
 
 Col. Fraser: — The Bight Hon. Sir 
 
 Wilfrid ' Laurier, the Members of 
 
 the Government, and the Members 
 
 of the House of Commons — 
 
 I have t'-e honor to reside" in the 
 
 western portion of Ontario that is 
 
 noted for its varied productions of 
 
 agriculture, such as grains of all kinds, 
 
 potatoes, turnips, horses, cattle, 'sheep 
 and lambs, hogs, butter, cheese akd 
 eggs. And Situated as we are, sur- 
 rounded on' three sides by United States 
 territory, with its "large cities directly 
 on or near our borders, with a large 
 consuming population of the products 
 I have named, the advantages of recip- 
 
rocal trade relations with the United 
 States are ss apparent that it is almost 
 needless on my part to make any state- 
 ment to that effect, the price of the 
 articles I have named being, with few 
 exceptions, at all times in excess of 
 thi prices prevailing on our side of 
 the line. 
 
 Treating on the question of turnips, 
 I have frequently seen paid in cus- 
 toms and freight dues nearly four dol- 
 lars for every one dollar paid the pro- 
 ducer. That is only one of the many 
 like instances I could enumerate. It is 
 no wonder then that the farming inter- 
 ests ia my district are depressed, that 
 the bailiff's business is largely on the 
 increase, that the merchants are unable 
 to collect their bills and that the gen- 
 eral conditions of the farmer call loudly 
 and piteously for a change. The con- 
 ditions as outlined in the contemplated 
 changes in the tariff would, I believe, 
 largely eliminate the existing conditions 
 and place on a sound foundation our 
 agricultural interests, on whose pros- 
 perity the condition of all classes so 
 much depends. 
 
 Our large immigratien which we are 
 at present enjoying with the enormous 
 
 influx of capital whicn accompanies it, 
 together with the vast expenditure of 
 monies on public works : by Domini >n, 
 provincial and municipal governments, 
 prevents for the time being these con- 
 ditions being fully felt, but lot a per- 
 iod of depression occur, which is not 
 only possible but probable, and a con- 
 dition of affairs will soon result which 
 will be appalling. 
 
 We have nothing but the kindliest of 
 feelings for our manufacturers, but we 
 fully realize that a policy that has 
 robbed our province of 100,000 of its 
 rural population in 25 years makes the 
 situation so grave that relief must come 
 and come speedily ere it is too late, and 
 we have forever destroyed a yeomanry, 
 the finest that history, either ancient or 
 modem, has ever known. 
 
 I will say no more. Lengthy discus- 
 sion will do no good; the facts are so 
 apparent that a child of tender years 
 understands the situation. How much 
 more then must it appeal to you as 
 intelligent men. I therefore trust that 
 you will, if possible, avail yourselves of 
 the opportunities afforded by tVe con- 
 templated offer which is likely to be 
 afforded you. 
 
 Mr. MeCuaig: — I shall now call upon Mr. M. B. Fawcett, of 
 Sackville, New Brunswick, representing the New Brunswick Farmers' 
 Association. 
 
 Mr. Fawcett's Address 
 
 Mr. Fawcett: — To the Eight Honorable 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister 
 of Canada; the Members of the 
 Government and the Members of 
 the House of Commons — 
 
 I only wish to add a word for New 
 Brunswick anil to say, if a treaty can be 
 obtained that will give our natural pro- 
 ducts free access to the American markets 
 it will immensely benefit our chief in- 
 dustry, agriculture, as well as several 
 others, scarcely less important to our 
 province. Farm production with us in 
 most lines has made serious losses for 
 many years past, especially in live stock. 
 The value of our improved farms has 
 generally decreased. Even the best dyke 
 lauds in my own county are worth less 
 than formerly. And our provincial gov- 
 ernment is expending considerable money 
 in attempts to re-people our abandoned 
 farms with British immigrants. But the 
 abandonment of other farms goes on just 
 -the same. 
 
 The feeling is becoming very general 
 that the protective tariff in force now, as 
 well as in the past, is largely responsible 
 for this retrogression. Under such a 
 tariff manufacturers are not only enabled 
 to outbid farmers in the matter of hired 
 labor, but to impose unreasonable prices 
 on practically everything required to 
 operate a farm. Our soil and climate 
 favor the extensive and profitable growing 
 of fruit, and nearly every farm crop 
 common to Canada. Even under the 
 adverse conditions so long existing, we 
 are producing a considerable surplus of 
 potatoes, turnips, hay, and dairy products, 
 and our farmers would receive a direct 
 and immediate benefit from reciprocity. 
 
 To illustrate briefly I may mention 
 myself; ami say, that free access to the 
 American market with my, own hay crop, 
 would make me » net gain annually of 
 $360.00 ; and , on my strawberry crop, 
 $200.00, counting only one half the duty 
 imposed, by the United, States tariff and 
 I am only one ; of many. 
 
 55 
 
Mr. McCuaig: — I shall now call upon Mr. Jos. E. Johnston, repre- 
 senting the Fruit Growers of Norfolk, Ontario. 
 
 Mr. Johnston's Address 
 
 Mr. Johnston: — Sir Wilfrid Laurier and 
 Gentlemen — 
 
 In supporting the unanimous opinion 
 of this delegation in favor of reciprocity 
 with the United States in all agricul- 
 tural produce, I may offer a few ex- 
 planations as to how it would affect the 
 interests of our Canadian Fruit Growers, 
 and particularly our growers of apples. 
 The district I represent is yearly be- 
 coming more largely engaged in orchard- 
 ing. In this, as in many other sections 
 of Canada, the apple business is being 
 rapidly improved by co-operation of the 
 growers in the care of their orchards 
 and the marketing of their fruit. The 
 recognized superior quality of our fruit 
 guarantees that with expert methods 
 we can more than hold our own in open 
 markets. In the county of Norfolk we 
 have a co-operative association engaged 
 in the handling of apples. This associa- 
 tion was organized five years ago, and 
 in 1910, even with the short crop, it 
 sold nine times the quantity of fruit 
 handled in the first year it was organ- 
 ized. The prospects for further devel- 
 opment of the apple business in On- 
 tario, under the co-operative system, are 
 very bright indeed. 
 
 But while the business of apple glow- 
 ing is profitable today, its extension 
 would be promoted by the opening of 
 wider markets. The republic to the 
 south, with a population of ninety mil- 
 lions or so, and a rapidly growing de- 
 mand for all kinds of food products, 
 would be an excellent additional market 
 for our fruit. Even in the face of the 
 duty prevailing, the shipments from our 
 association this past year to the United 
 
 States were 6,000 barrels, while 25,000 
 barrels went to the Northwest and 5,000 
 barrels to England and Scotland. Had 
 there been free trade in apples we would 
 have been able to sell our whole crop 
 50 cents a barrel better than we did. 
 There are varieties of apples, such as 
 Greenings, Bellflower and Talman 
 Sweets, which are not wanted at all in 
 the Northwest but are readily taken at 
 a good price in the United States. Apart 
 from this there are localities in Canada 
 whieh could import American fruit to 
 advantage and many sections in the 
 United States whieh could use our fruit 
 to even greater advantage. In years 
 of scarcity the Canadian West would 
 like to draw upon the Pacific coast 
 fruit more largely than it does while 
 in seasons of heavy production we would 
 be greatly benefitted by an additional 
 market. This illustrates the advantage 
 of reciprocity. 
 
 At present the- Canadian apple grower 
 is discriminated against. The United 
 States tariff on apples is 75 cents a bar- 
 rel, while American apple growers ship- 
 ping into Canada have to pay only 40 
 cents a barrel duty. This is unfair and 
 I respectfully ask, on behalf of Cana- 
 dian f Tuit growers, that yon, as repre- 
 sentatives of the Canadian people, will 
 endeavor in any reciprocal trade nego- 
 tiations to have the American fruit 
 tariff lowered to at least the same 
 figure as the Canadian tariff. Further 
 than this we would welcome and re- 
 quest a complete withdrawal of all 
 duties on apples entering either country. 
 Beeiprocity in apples would benefit con- 
 sumer and producer alike. 
 
 Mr. McCuaig : — I shall now call upon Mr. S. C. Parker, of Berwick, 
 Nova Scotia, Secretary of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers' Association. 
 
 Mr. Parker's Address 
 
 Mr. Parker: --To the Bight Honorable 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Prime Minister 
 of Canada; the Members of the 
 Government and the Members of 
 the House of Commons — 
 I have the honor to speak for the fruit- 
 growing interests of Nova Scotia. Our 
 industry is rapidly growing; with in- 
 creasing production we see the importance 
 of as wide a distribution as possible. We 
 
 are convinced that a fair measure of 
 reciprocal trade with our neighbor at the 
 south would be of immense advantage to 
 all our horticultural interests. Of even 
 more importance is our trade with Great 
 Britain. That country is our best cus- 
 tomer and any preference looking toward 
 increase of trade with the Mother Country^ 
 will certainly improve our industrial 
 condition. 
 
 56 
 
Mr. MeCuaig: — I shall now call upon Mr. Robt. Sellar, of 
 Huntingdon, Quebec, to speak on behalf of the stockbreeders and 
 dairymen of Quebec. 
 
 Mr. Sellar's Add 
 
 Mr. Seller: — Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 
 Sir Richard Cartwright, gentlemen — 
 These farmers you see before you 
 are not like people from any other 
 industrial class. They work with 
 the Almighty: they produce in part- 
 nership with Him. And when they have 
 garnered their products, when they have 
 raised by infinite labor and patient skill 
 what they have to sell in order that they 
 may live, is it just that part of that pro- 
 duction shall be taken by any other class 
 away from them? It is not a mere matter 
 of favor that we come to ask of you today, 
 it is a matter of justice. Are all these men 
 who fill these galleries forever to go on 
 toiling and forever to pay tribute to some 
 other favored class or not? They are not 
 come here in vain. These men have 
 travelled over 2,000 miles some of them to 
 lay their case before you, and I will tell 
 you this, Sir Wilfrid, they have unfurled 
 a banner which will not be furled again 
 until they have attained their end. (loud 
 applause.) 
 
 Protect the Women 
 
 I was in the house last night and I 
 heard a lovely young man plead the cause 
 of the men who work for the government 
 that they should not work more than 
 eight hours a day. He should learn, 
 Sir, that this morning thousands of 
 delicate women had to leave their beds 
 before daylight and go out to cold stables 
 and milk the cows. I am informed by 
 those who have studied the question that 
 
 ress 
 
 every farmer pays from $100 to $300 a 
 year in protective duties. That may not 
 seem much in the eyes of the monopolists, 
 but $100 to a farmer is worth a thousand 
 to any other class, and I ask if that $100 
 or $200 was left for the farmer would it 
 not give more ease to his family, are there 
 not thousands of women who are on these 
 lonesome prairies who could with that 
 money make life more agreeable to 
 themselves and their families? 
 
 Will Have Justice 
 
 We say these men are not going to 
 submit any longer to pay tribute to any 
 other class. They are not going to be 
 put off. They come here for justice and 
 justice they will have. (Cheers). 
 
 And, Sir, in saying this these men are 
 loyal. We do not ask for defense against 
 our neighbors. We do not say that 
 loyalty consists of slighting our neighbors 
 to the south: we say that loyalty is deep 
 in the bosoms of these people and that 
 they would die for the Motherland before 
 they would see themselves oppressed. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 I merely plead that these men will 
 have justice; that they will go back to 
 their farms feeling that they have made 
 themselves felt in the Dominion which 
 every one of them loves, and that this 
 cause is not going to rest now, but that 
 it will go on until the banner that they 
 unfurled yesterday will be planted on the 
 ruins of protectionism. (Loud cheers). 
 
 Mr. MeCuaig : — I shall now call upon Mr. R. McKenzie, Secretary 
 of the Manitoba Grain Growers' Association, and a member of the 
 Canadian Council of Agriculture. 
 
 Mr. McKenzie's Address 
 
 Mr. McKenzie: — To the Bight Honor- 
 able Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Prime 
 Minister of Canada; the Members 
 of the Government and the Mem- 
 berg of the House of Commons — 
 When the people of Canada adopted 
 the principle of protection in their 
 customs tariff of 1878 it was with the 
 clear understanding that when the pro- 
 tected industries had had time to de- 
 velop and get firmly established, the 
 protection would be withdrawn and the 
 
 people relieved of any further taxation 
 for the benefit of industry. The elec- 
 tion of 1896 was largely decided on this 
 issue and the people returned to power 
 a government committed to the elim- 
 ination of the protective principle from 
 the tariff and the placing of our cus- 
 toms duty on a purely revenue basis. 
 Although the tariff schedule of 1897 
 afforded some r,elief, the farmers of 
 Canada were disappointed in the meas- 
 ure of relief afforded by it. Under the 
 
 57 
 
impression that the expected reduction 
 was not abandoned by the government, 
 but only postponed, they deferred mak- 
 ing any strong objection. The revision 
 of 1907 largely disabused their minds 
 in this respect, and, notwithstanding 
 the strong representation made to the 
 tariff commission which investigated 
 the operation of the tariff previous to 
 the revision of 1907, the schedule re- 
 sulting, .although providing for a small 
 reduction in a few items, worked out, 
 upon the whole, to afford more protec- 
 tion tol the manufacturing industries. 
 
 Farmers Get Little 
 
 The tariff schedule of 1907 contains 
 711 items, 221 of which are free. Of 
 these free items, farmers get the 
 benefit of free binder twine, cream sep- 
 arators and corn for feeding purposes. 
 Practically all the other free items are 
 raw material used by manufacturers in 
 their manufactories. In addition to 
 that, since the revision of 1907 some 
 twenty items have been placed on the 
 free list, and the duty reduced on thir- 
 teen others by order-in-council. Prac- 
 tically all these reductions have been 
 on raw materials used by 'manufac- 
 turers. As farmers we do not object 
 to the principle of permitting raw ma- 
 terial used by -manufacturers to be 
 imported free of duty. We believe that 
 it is sound and that the best inter- 
 'ests of the community are served by 
 permitting the manufacturer to get his 
 raw material where he can get it 
 cheapest, free from restrictions of any 
 Jiind. ..But we do object to a tariff 
 "which, while .giving them this just 
 ..privilege permits them to levy unjustly 
 & heavy tribute off the .people who use 
 "their goods, by the "higher prices they 
 are enabled to charge through the 
 "power given them by the customs tariff. 
 
 Protection Arguments 
 
 Advocates of protection base their 
 contentions on the ground: 
 
 1. That the levying, of customs 
 duties is the best method of collecting 
 revenue to meet the requirements of 
 government; 
 
 2. That it affords labor for wage- 
 earners, thus providing maintenance for 
 centres of population in towns and 
 cities. 
 
 ' The method which' has hitherto been 
 pursued ill this country of collecting 
 revenue through customs duties, by vir- 
 tue of which one group of individuals 
 Is placed in a position'Vhere iSiey can 
 levy toll upon their neighbors, is in- 
 herently unsound. - It ■ is so, 'because 
 
 it destroys tie balance of equity in 
 taxation. ."By virtue of what princi- 
 ple will you tax the farmer in order 
 to give work to the working man? On 
 what principle will you tax the working 
 man in order to give better prices to 
 the farmer?." — Sir Wilfrid Laurier. 
 
 Minister's Statements 
 
 Sir Eichard Cartwright, than whom 
 there is no better authority in Can- 
 ada on statistics and fiscal questions, 
 is credited with making the statement, 
 in 1893, that "If you add together the 
 sum that las been paid into the treas- 
 ury and the largest sum that has been 
 extracted from the pockets of the peo- 
 ple for the benefit of a few private and 
 favored individuals, you will find that 
 the total for the last fourteen years 
 is hardly less than $1,000,000,600." 
 
 You, Sir (Sir Wilfrid Laurier), have 
 also been credited with a statement 
 made about the same time, that "For 
 every dollar that goes into the Domin- 
 ion treasury, two or three dollars go 
 into the pockets of the manufactur- 
 ers, ' ' and almost every farmer in Can- 
 ada will agree with . you in this state- 
 ment, even, if some of them differ with 
 you upon other public questions. 
 
 Manufacturers' Gains 
 
 According to the census of 1906 
 there were agricultural implements 
 manufactured, in Canada in the year 
 previous to the valne of $12,835,745, of 
 which $2,342,826. worth were exported, 
 leaving for. home consumption $10,492,- 
 919. There were imported that year 
 $1,593,914 worth . of implements, on 
 which the government collected a duty 
 to- the extent of 20 per cent., or $318,- 
 782. It is now conceded that the manu- 
 facturer adds to the selling price of 
 his commodity the total amount of the 
 protection granted. him by the customs 
 duty. The. farmers of Canada thus paid 
 the government that year $318,782 and 
 to the manufacturers of farming imple- 
 ments $2,098,383. 
 
 Of leather we used of domestic manu- 
 facture $13,394,416 worth; we imported 
 $901,197 worth, on which we" "paid a 
 duty to the government of $157,709, and 
 through enhanced prices paid the manu- 
 facturers §2,344,022. 
 
 Boots' and "shoes manufactured in 
 Canada amounted to $20,264,686. We 
 imported $1,178,749 worth, on which we 
 paid the government - a duty of $353,600, 
 and paid the manufacturers $6,079,405. 
 
 Cement, an article that is now being 
 «sed v-ery extensively in- Canada, prac- 
 ticaHyr ieVery .farmer who does any 
 
building making use of it to some ex- 
 tent, carries protection to the extent 
 of 33 1-3 per cent. In 1909 there was 
 manufactured in Canada $5,266,008 
 worth of cement. We imported $475,- 
 676 worth, on which the government 
 collected a duty of $159,077, and we 
 paid the Canadian merger that con- 
 trols the manufacture of that article 
 $1,755,336. 
 
 The same thing applies to woollens, 
 cottons, cutlery, but why go further? 
 
 On these several items enumerated 
 above alone the people pay a revenue 
 to the government of $989,168, and the 
 very large sum of $12,277,146 into the 
 treasury of the manufacturers of these 
 commodities. The taxes paid by the 
 people on those commodities are ap- 
 proximately in the following propor- 
 tion: For every $100 farmers are taxed 
 by reason of the customs duty on agri- 
 cultural implements, the government 
 gets $14 and the manufacturer $86. On 
 cement the government gets $8 and 
 the manufacturer gets $92. On boots 
 and shoes the government gets $6 and 
 the manufacturers $94. On leather the 
 government receives $6 and the manu- 
 facturer $94. 
 
 No Competition Now 
 
 In the early days of the National 
 policy the taxes imposed by the cus- 
 toms duty were modified to some extent 
 by competition between domestic manu- 
 facturers. Of recent years they have 
 practically eliminated that competition 
 by the formation of mergers. The dif- 
 ferent companies engaged in the same 
 line of manufacture have been ab- 
 January, 1900, twenty industrial amal- 
 gamations have been consummated in 
 Canada, absorbing one hundred and 
 thirty-five individual companies. While 
 in each case the capitalization of the 
 merged concern is very much larger 
 than the total capital of the absorbed 
 companies, it is rarely that any of this 
 additional capital "enters into the busi- 
 ness of the new concern. The huge 
 capitalization enables the organization 
 concerned to conceal from the general 
 public, in a measure, the large tribute 
 they are enabled to impose on the con- 
 sumers of their manufactured goods 
 by reason of the customs duty. 
 . The argument is frequently made 
 that the government must maintain the 
 present high customs duty in srder to 
 protect capital invested in manufactur- 
 ing industries. In ether words, capital 
 invested in agriculture must, by statute, 
 be compelled to pay tribute to capital 
 invested in manufacturing industries. 
 On what principle of justice can a gov- 
 
 ernment give a man who invests $100,-; 
 000 in any industry, the privilege of, 
 levying a tax on ten men who invest 
 $10,000 each in land to develop. the nat-. 
 ural wealth of the country? It is often 
 said by advocates of the protective tar- 
 iff system that we must maintain a 
 customs duty in order to encourage 
 capital to come to Canada. This policy 
 maintained by our government since 
 187S has had a most detrimental effect 
 on the development of agriculture and 
 the investment of capital in. the pro- 
 duction of farm crops, and it is yearly 
 becoming more apparent, due to the 
 fact that money invested in industrial 
 and other securities yields a greater 
 revenue than that invested in the in- 
 dustry of agriculture, that many of our 
 most progressive farmers are disposing 
 of their farms to come and live in the 
 towns and cities, investing the pro- 
 ceeds of the sale of their land in other 
 securities, endeavoring to supplement 
 this by entering into competition with 
 wage-earners in those centres of popu- 
 lation. 
 
 Farming Does Not Pay 
 
 According to the census of 1901 the 
 total capital invested in the agricul- 
 tural industry was $1,787,102,630, not 
 including working capital; that is, 
 capital used. After deducting the 
 charge of labor and rent, the surplus ■ 
 for the year 's operations is placed at 
 $331,542,546, or 18.55 per cent, of the 
 capital invested, allowing nothing for 
 the working capital, the farmers' own 
 ■ labor, or that of the meaibers of his . 
 family, or his raw material. Had the 
 wages of the farmer and the adult 
 members of his family been reckoned 
 at the usual wage of a day laborer there 
 would have been nothing left for in- 
 terest on this very large capital. On 
 the other hand, the industry of manu- 
 facturing invested, including the work- 
 ing capital, a total of $446,916,487. 
 After allowing Jor the cost ©f raw ma- 
 terial, the rent of offices and work, the 
 cost of wages, salary, power, heat, fuel, 
 light, taxes, totalling $392,475, the sur- 
 tal. Speaking for the West, I have 
 plus netted 19.82 per cent, of that capi- 
 no hesitation in saying that this eco- 
 nomic condition seriously affects pro- 
 gress in the development of farm lands. 
 In the older districts where land has 
 made a rapid advance in price, farmers 
 are disposing of their holdings, mov- 
 ing into the towns and investing the 
 proceeds of their sale as indicated 
 above. In the majority of cases, al- 
 though there are exceptions, the pur- 
 chasers of these farms have only a 
 
 59 
 
limited capital and frequently the 
 largest proportion of the purchase 
 money is carried on a mortgage. The 
 increased cost of living and of conduct- 
 ing his operations, due to the exactions 
 of a protective tariff, so disables him 
 that there are eften seasons when he 
 can pay no more than his interest on 
 this principal, which condition denies 
 him the opportunity of material com- 
 fort, culture and education that by 
 right belong to him as much as to any- 
 one else, besides preventing him from 
 improving his holdings. 
 
 Farms Being Deserted 
 
 The census of 1906 shows that in 
 
 1905 there were 122,398 farms in the 
 provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan 
 and Alberta. The reports of the de- 
 partment of the interior indicate that 
 up to the 30th of June, 1905, 199,978 
 homestead entries were made, and that 
 year 112,779 patents were issued. In 
 addition to this, for the three years 
 previous to 1905, 72,129 entries were 
 made for homesteads, indicating that 
 of the homestead entries and patents 
 issued up until 1905, 62,000 have either 
 disposed of their patents or did not 
 take possession of their homesteads. 
 Previous to that date there were dis- 
 posed of, by railway companies and 
 others who had received subsidies of 
 land from the government of Canada, 
 upwards of 11,500,000 acres of land, 
 a percentage of the purchasers of which 
 would be securing the land for the pur- 
 pose of making a home. So that the 
 number above indicated as abandoning 
 or selling their holding would be very 
 largely increased. During that period, 
 which was one of the most successful 
 periods that the West has ever ex- 
 perienced, the urban population of those 
 three provinces increased in a much 
 larger ratio than the rural population. 
 In 1901 the ratio of urban to the total 
 population was 24.72 per cent., and in 
 
 1906 it increased to 30.23 per cent. The 
 ratio of urban to the total population 
 increased more in Manitoba than in the 
 other two provinces, althongh there was 
 a marked increase in all three. The 
 statement is made that the increase in 
 the urban and the decrease in the farm 
 population in Ontario is largely due to 
 the attractiveness of the fertile soil 
 of the prairie farms, yet, notwithstand- 
 ing the many and great advantages 
 that the prairie farm has over the 
 farms of the older provinces, and not- 
 withstanding the fact that practically 
 the only resources of these Western 
 provinces are the products of the soil, 
 in the face of all this, the urban popu- 
 
 lation is growing more rapidly than the 
 rural. The only logical reason that 
 can be advanced for such an undesir- 
 able situation is that owing to the 
 high eost of living and the high cost of 
 the necessary equipment, due ' very 
 largely to the unjust tariff, the farmer 
 finds it difficult to make ends meet, and 
 seeks to change his calling in the for- 
 lorn hope of doing better. 
 
 Another Fallacy 
 
 The other argument that the growth 
 of towns and cities is _dependent on 
 manufactures being established in these 
 centres of population is also discredited 
 by the experience of the Western prov- 
 inces. Practically the only manufactur- 
 ies in those provinces are establishments 
 for the manufacture of food products, 
 slaughter houses and meat packing 
 houses, mills for the manufacture of 
 lumber and timber products, printing 
 and publishing houses, none of which 
 are dependent for their existence on 
 the maintenance of the protective sys- 
 tem. 
 
 Better Pension Manufacturers 
 
 The doctrine that manufacturing es- 
 tablishments cannot exist and that 
 cities and towns eannot prosper without 
 protection is untenable. That the fath- 
 ering care of the National policy has 
 brought into existence manufacturies 
 in Canada may be admitted, but it is 
 also true that industries of that char- 
 acter whieh have to be bolstered up at 
 the expense of the people, while it may 
 add to the wealth of the individual, 
 adds nothing to the wealth of the 
 nation. The census of 1906 gives the 
 total of the products manufactured in 
 Canada' in establishments employing 
 five hands and over as $706,446,578. 
 The average duty on dutiable imports 
 for 1905 was 27.692 per cent. If we 
 assume that the manufacturers added 
 this to the selling price of their prod- 
 ucts, amounting to upwards of $706,- 
 000,000, the tribute they collected from 
 the consumers of manufactured goods 
 in Canada was that year upwards of 
 $190,000,000. The total salary paid by 
 manufacturers in all Canada in 1905 
 was $162,155,578, or upwards of $28,- 
 000,000 less than the extra profits they 
 made due to customs duties off the Can- 
 adian people on their manufactured 
 product. In other words, if the people 
 of Canada had paid all the salary of 
 the employees of manufacturies for that 
 year, they would still have had $28,- 
 000,000 left to contribute to the reve- 
 nue of the country from the excess 
 prices they had paid due to the tariff. 
 
But further, the urban population in 
 Canada in 1901 was 2,021,799. Of those 
 there were employed in manufacturing 
 establishments 226,663 men over six- 
 teen years of age; 61,220 women six- 
 teen years and over, and 12,143 children 
 under sixteen years, or a total of 300,- 
 026 employees. The rest of the urban 
 population who were engaged in the 
 business of distributing, transporting, 
 financial and other interests were in 
 no way benefitted by protection in cus- 
 toms duties. 
 
 Don't Need Protection 
 
 It is a foolish fallacy that our manu- 
 facturers in Canada depend for their 
 existence on the continuance of the 
 protective tariff. Our largest and most 
 important industries that are classified 
 as manufactures, such as establish- 
 ments engaged in the production of 
 food products such as bakeries, butter 
 and cheese factories, flour and grist 
 mills, slaughtering and meat packing 
 establishments, fruit and vegetable can- 
 ning, and various others which may be 
 regarded as indigenous to Canada, may 
 safely be depended upon as being quite 
 capable of meeting any competition 
 from outside sources if our markets 
 were thrown open. 
 
 Tired of Waiting 
 
 As already stated the tariff of 1897 
 afforded some relief, although the sup- 
 porters of a lower tariff were disap- 
 pointed that the reduction had not gone 
 a good deal further. However, they 
 rested on the assurance that a begin- 
 ning was made and that a decrease in 
 the taxation of customs duties would 
 continue at intervals and that the ex- 
 pected revenue tariff was not to be 
 abandoned by the government, but only 
 postponed. After fourteen years of 
 waiting a careful study of the tariff 
 schedule indicates that due to a con- 
 stant rise in value that began in 1896 
 on all classes of dutiable goods the peo- 
 ple are now actually paying more duty 
 on the commodities they purchase than 
 in 1896. In the interval farmers and 
 general consumers have been organiz- 
 ing and getting familiar with the ex- 
 tent of the taxation imposed upon them 
 by the tariff. They have observed that 
 since the revision of 1907 the privi- 
 leges granted to manufacturers under 
 the customs duty is being extended 
 without any compensating relief to 
 consumers. Many people are leaving 
 the older districts in the other prov- 
 inces, some getting tired of urban life 
 and many also from older countries are 
 endeavoring to establish themselves on 
 
 the Western prairies, the larger pro- 
 portion of them having very little capi- 
 tal excepting their physical strength, 
 and relying upon the products of their 
 labor to build up for themselves homes 
 on land so generously provided them by 
 the Canadian government, find that, 
 through the exactions of transportation 
 and the oppressive customs tariff the cost 
 of living and maintaining a home is 
 advanced from 25 to 30 per cent. That 
 is to say, that for every dollar's worth 
 of goods the farmer on his homestead 
 has to buy, the customs duty adds from 
 25 to 30 cents. The staple product of 
 Western farms is wheat, and the pur- 
 chasing power of a bushel of wheat is 
 reduced 25 per cent, by our fiscal sys- 
 tem. The average price of wheat to 
 the Western farmer this year will be 
 approximately 75 cents per bushel. 
 Seventy-five per cent, of the proceeds 
 of the sale of wheat goes towards the 
 purchase of home comforts and to farm 
 improvements, every dollar of which is 
 reduced in value 25 per cent. That is 
 to say that every bushel of^ wheat we 
 raise is reduced in its purchasing power 
 by fifteen cents on account of the op- 
 eration of the customs duty. 
 
 Transportation Arguments 
 
 An argument that is commonly used 
 is that a customs duty must be main- 
 tained in order to provide a revenue 
 for furnishing transportation facilities 
 for the distribution of farm crops, and 
 that it is necessary in order that the 
 government should continue to improve 
 transportation facilities for the hand- 
 ling of the products of the Western 
 prairies, to continue the present cus- 
 toms duty; and that farmers in resist- 
 ing the imposition of these duties are 
 ungrateful on the ground that all the 
 people of Canada are subject to these 
 customs duties for the special benefit 
 of the farming community in this re- 
 spect. That the government of Can- 
 ada has, in the past, expended large 
 sums of money in providing transpor- 
 tation facilities, all readily agree. But 
 it must also be conceded by those who 
 hold the views above stated that the 
 general business of Canada receives just 
 as much benefit from the development 
 incident to providing proper transporta- 
 tion facilities for the newer districts as 
 the farmers. And who derives more 
 benefit from these improved transpor- 
 tation facilities than our manufactur- 
 ers? Yet we find that they strenuously 
 oppose contributing anything to the 
 revenue from customs duties on the 
 material they import. It is also put 
 forth for an argument that the govern - 
 
 61 
 
ment must continue the customs dnty 
 to provide revenue to still further im- 
 prove the. means of transportation from 
 the Western prairies to the seaboard 
 by developing of canals, etc., and the 
 argument "is made that by so doing the 
 price of Western grain will be en- 
 hanced from 1% to 2 cents per bushel, 
 all of which will go to the benefit of 
 the farmers. Te us it seems folly to 
 continue a system which, as shown 
 above, reduces the purchasing power of 
 a bushel of wheat 15 cents in order that 
 the government may create conditions 
 which will increase the price of a 
 bushel of wheat from 1% to 2 cents. 
 
 Not a Bevenue Tariff 
 
 The declared policy . of the govern- 
 ment is to impose duty for revenue pur- 
 poses, and that protection is only inci- 
 dental. The logical inference would be, 
 therefore, that when, through the op- 
 eration of the customs duty, an article 
 ceased to produce revenue to any extent 
 by reason of the domestic manufactur- 
 ers getting complete control of the out- 
 put, the government should remove the 
 protection. And further, since the gov- 
 ernment imposes customs duties only for 
 the purpose of producing revenue to 
 meet the cost of government, just as 
 soon as there is a material and con- 
 tinued surplus from year to year, the 
 government, if they would follow their 
 declared policy, will reduce the customs 
 duties. Canada has reached that stage 
 now. We have had for several years 
 a very good surplus which this year has 
 been stated by the press to approximate 
 $30,000,000. Why, inasmuch as the 
 necessities of the revenue do not re- 
 quire the imposition of so much taxa- 
 tion, does the government not carry 
 out this- declared policy ef reducing the 
 customs duty to the requirements of 
 the revenue? 
 
 Figuring the Cost 
 
 We attach hereto a list showing the 
 revenue produced for the year ending 
 March 31, 1910, en articles which the 
 farmers request to be placed on the 
 free list. Yen will notice that the- 
 total revenue produced by the duty on 
 agricultural implements as shown by 
 the Trade and Navigation returns as 
 "Agricultural Implements n.o-p." 
 amounts to only $529,299.48. This 
 amount is quite insignificant when com- 
 pared with the amount which the tariff 
 schedule enables the implement manu- 
 facturer to impose on the farmer. The 
 same applies to buggies and carriages. 
 On cutters the revenue produced last 
 year was $328,65 There are very 
 
 large numbers of cutters used in Can- 
 ada and all of them are increased in 
 value by 35 per cent, on account of 
 this customs duty. On sleighs the duty 
 collected by the government was $4,- 
 539.39. These are articles which every 
 farmer in Canada uses and on which 
 he must pay to the manufacturer an ad- 
 dition in price of 35 per cent. 
 
 The same applies to portable engines, 
 threshing machines and wagons. On 
 all farm implements, including buggies, 
 carriages and sleighs, threshing ma- 
 chines, etc., the government collected 
 duty to the amount of $1,218,983.38. 
 
 Loss In Eevenue 
 
 Were all these items enumerated in 
 our resolution placed on the free list, 
 the government would lose, based on 
 the revenue for the year ending March 
 31, 1910, $2,500,000, and should the 
 British/ preference be increased to 50 
 per cent, the loss to the revenue, based 
 on the importations of the fiseil year 
 ending March 31, 1910, would be ap- 
 proximately $4,500,000, so that the total 
 amount of revenue lost to the govern- 
 ment due to the reduction demanded 
 by the farmers' resolution as set forth 
 above would amount approximately to 
 $7,500,000. If, as is stated, the sur- 
 plus this year will amount to $30,000,- 
 000, it would leave a surplus of ?22.- 
 500,000, a very respectable amount. So 
 that the proposed reduction would in 
 no way embarrass the government in 
 the conduct of the business of the 
 country. 
 
 Free Trade With England 
 
 Believing, as we do, that the pro- 
 vision for revenue by customs duty is 
 economically and morally wrong, we 
 desire that free trade be established 
 between Britain and Canada in as short 
 a time as possible, without unduly dis- 
 arranging existing business conditions. 
 We therefore ask that the British Pref- 
 erence be increased all around at the 
 present session to 50 per cent, and that 
 an additional increase of five per cent, 
 each year be given until we have Free 
 Trade between Britain and Canada. We 
 do not ask for any preference in the 
 British market for our products in re- 
 turn, since we regard free trade be- 
 tween Canada and Great Britain as 
 being in the best interest of the devel- 
 opment of Canada; nor do we suggest 
 or desire that Britain should tax°for- 
 eign food stuffs for our benefit. A cer- 
 tain section of the Canadian people 
 loudly proclaim their loyalty and at- 
 tachment to the British Empire. Appar- 
 ently their loyalty consists in raising 
 
a tariff -wall against British manufac- 
 turers that will enable the Canadian 
 manufacturers to impose a tribute on 
 the rest of the Canadian people, and 
 as an offset to the producers of food 
 stuffs in Canada that a tax should be 
 placed by the British people on their 
 food stuffs from foreign lands. In 
 other words their loyalty consists in 
 having the British manufacturer taxed 
 in the interest of the Canadian manu- 
 facturer, and the food stuffs of the 
 British artisan taxed for the benefit of 
 the Canadian farmer. Canadian farm- 
 ers recognize the protection afforded 
 our country by the Motherland and 
 they are willing to do their part in the 
 maintenance of the British Empire by 
 supplying the British people wi<,n the 
 food products they require in open com- 
 petition with any other country in the 
 world. If our own government will 
 relieve the unjust tax upon Canadian 
 farmers by the customs duty, they 
 would be quite able to compete in the 
 British market with any other country 
 in the world in the supply of cereals 
 and farm products. 
 
 The adoption of free trade between 
 Canada and Great Britain would neces- 
 sarily cause a loss to the revenue of a 
 considerable amount, and our resolu- 
 tion suggests that the necessary reve- 
 nue should be made up by some system 
 of direct taxation. 
 
 Must Eventually Triumph 
 
 In asking for these changes in our 
 customs tariff we believe that we have 
 asked for nothing but what is just and 
 what is in the interest of the best de- 
 
 velopment of our country. Our farm- 
 ers have been the pioneers in the devel- 
 opment of the land. They have gone 
 to the frontiers of civilization when the 
 road was dark and discouragements 
 were great. They have struggled 
 against monopoly in many of its phases. 
 They have found it necessary to organ- 
 ize, and have their organization as per- 
 fect as possible. The farmers present 
 here today have come at great expense. 
 They have done so because they desire 
 their wishes to be made known at the 
 fountain head where our laws are made. 
 They represent 50,000 of the best farm- 
 ers of this Dominion and can justly 
 claim to represent the farming industry 
 of this country. We make our requests 
 as reasonable men. Whether they are 
 granted by this parliament or not, the 
 educational work will still go on and 
 the principles we have outlined here 
 must ultimately triumph. Our country 
 is in the infancy of its development. It 
 is our duty, and the duty of the repre- 
 sentatives who sit within these halls, 
 to see that special privilege is afforded 
 to none and that our laws are based 
 alone on justice to all. The farmers of 
 Canada desire that the principle under- 
 lying our laws should be that contained 
 in the words of one of the greatest 
 Americans of the last century — "That 
 we should do unto others as we would 
 have them do unto us; That we should 
 respect their rights as scrupulously as 
 we would have our rights respected, is 
 not a mere counsel of perfection to in- 
 dividuals, but it is the law to which 
 we must conform social institutions and 
 national policy if we would secure the 
 blessings of abundance and peace." 
 
 Mr. McCuaig: — That is the end of our presentation, Sir Wilfrid. 
 
 SIR WILFRID'S REPLY 
 
 The following is the verbatim reply 
 
 made by the Premier to the 
 
 Farmers' Delegation 
 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier in replying to the 
 deputation said: Mr. McCuaig and gen- 
 tlemen of the delegation: Permit me, at 
 the very outset, on behalf of the govern- 
 ment and on behalf of parliament on both 
 sides of the House, for which, I think, on 
 this occasion and for this purpose I can 
 speak — 
 
 _ Mr. R. L. Borden, leader of the opposi- 
 tion: Hear, hear. 
 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier: — to express to you 
 the gratification it affords us to see before 
 
 us such a representative delegation as 
 we have here, and to acknowledge also 
 .the profit with which we have listened 
 to the expression of your views, even if 
 we do not share those views in their 
 entirety. When I came here this morning, 
 I thought we were coming to receive a 
 delegation from the West. But I under- 
 stand from your remarks that the delega- 
 tion we have before us represents all the 
 agricultural interests of Canada, of the 
 East as well as of the West. 
 
 63 
 
The Western Spirit 
 
 But you will perhaps permit me to 
 observe that it seems to me that, though 
 the delegation represents the agricultural 
 interests of the whole of Canada, it is 
 the Western spirit which pervades it. 
 I am not surprised at that, nor do I 
 complain of it. because we in the East are 
 prepared for the domination of the West 
 at a very early day. Also, we have 
 always understood that in the West the 
 ideas are far more radical than they are 
 in the East. At least, I have believed so, 
 judging, as I have judged of late and for 
 some time past, by the expressions of 
 opinion which have come to me from all 
 parts of Canada. I think that in this I 
 speak correctly, and that you will not deny 
 the impeachment, if such it be, that, in 
 the West, your ideas are far more advanced 
 than are those of the East. As I say, I 
 do not complain of this but simply place 
 it as a basis of fact. The resolutions you 
 have put before us are certainly impreg- 
 nated with the Western spirit. Nor do I 
 believe the farmers of the East are pre- 
 pared to go quite so far as you gentlemen 
 of the West. 
 
 You are in favor, as I understand, of 
 the government ownership and operation 
 of all government utilities, — of railways, 
 of abattoirs and of elevators. As to this, 
 I have nothing to say at present. 
 
 Sir Wilfrid's Education 
 
 The idea, may, perhaps, be a good one. 
 I understand that you have started a 
 campaign of education, and, perhaps, 
 I may be the first to be educated in that 
 respect, because, up to this time, I have 
 not been aD absolutely ardent supporter 
 of government ownership and operation 
 of all public utilities. To government 
 ownership I may be persuaded; to 
 government operation I may be persuaded 
 also, but with greater difficulty. In this, 
 1 am a man of the East. 
 
 If I am to judge of the importance 
 which you attach to the different resolu- 
 tions you have placed before us, by the 
 number of speakers who have addressed 
 themselves to each, I conclude that it is 
 to the terminal elevators and to the 
 tariff that you attach the greatest impor- 
 tance. It is these ideas which have 
 received the greatest support of this 
 delegation. I have listened with care to 
 the statements which have been made by 
 the farmers here represented, and the 
 grievances which they have to present, 
 and I am proud to believe that, after all, 
 even though in Canada at present things 
 are not as perfect as they ought to be, 
 Still, after all, they are not too bad. 
 
 The Farmers' Wealth 
 
 I listened with great interest — as every- 
 body did, I am sure, — to the very admir- 
 able paper presented by Mr. Green. If 
 I understood him aright, he stated that 
 the delegation here present represented 
 agricultural wealth in the Western prov- 
 inces to the amount of at least $300,000,- 
 000. Well, if we reflect that the farmers 
 are here from the Western Prairies and 
 those whom they represent have been in 
 the West, in ' their present homes, not 
 more, on the average, than twenty years, 
 we cannot but think that, to have accumu- 
 lated wealth to the amount of $300,000,- 
 000, does not argue a very bad condition 
 of things after all. And we reflect that 
 Mr. Green also stated that the actual 
 accumulated wealth of all the farmers of 
 the Western Prairies is $1,500,000,000, 
 I still repeat that, though things are not 
 so good as they might be, they are not 
 so very bad. 
 
 Tariff and Reciprocity 
 
 And where shall we find things as well 
 as they ought to be? That cannot be 
 found on this planet. And even in 
 Canada, which is, in my opinion, a 
 well-governed country, there is room for 
 improvement, I admit. Now, what is 
 to be the nature of the improvement? 
 With regard to the tariff, you have sug- 
 gested to us that the first thing we should 
 try to get is a treaty of reciprocity with 
 our neighbors. 
 
 Mr. E. C. Drury: I think you are 
 misinformed. Sir Wilfrid, as to the con- 
 tents of our recommendation. It ex- 
 pressly stated that we do nc t desire a 
 treaty. 
 
 Sir Wilfrid Laurier: I understand that 
 what is proposed is closer commercial 
 relations with our neighbors — whether 
 by treaty or concurrent legislation is 
 another matter; — I suppose you would 
 accept it in the form of a treaty rather 
 than not have it at all. If what you have 
 in view is better commercial relations with 
 the United States, we are at one with you. 
 I am happy to say that at this moment 
 we are negotiating with the American 
 authorities to do this very thing which you 
 ask for — to improve our commercial 
 relations with our neighbors. But I must 
 say to you that this is not so easy as you 
 may suppose. We are speaking frankly 
 here, and it is not so easy as one of the 
 speakers stated. There is in this country, 
 in some sections of the community, a very 
 strong opposition to any change in our 
 present commercial relations with our 
 neighbors. For my part, I do not share' 
 this view; my colleagues do not share this 
 view. I think that if we can improve the 
 relation in the direction of having more 
 markets for natural products and farm 
 
 64 
 
products, the country will be immensely 
 benefitted. Let us speak with perfect 
 frankness here, — and I would not speak 
 otherwise, — any change in our trade 
 relations with regard to manufactured 
 products is a more difficult matter. 
 There are difficulties in this which no 
 government can ignore; and we are not 
 ignoring them. But, at all events, we 
 see our goal, and in this our goal is very 
 much in your own direction. 
 
 No Tariff Revision 
 
 But yon go further and say that in 
 this very session we should commence 
 to amend the tariff also. 1 suggest to 
 you, gentlemen, that as practical legisla- 
 tors it would hardly be advisable for 
 the parliament of Canada to attempt to 
 revise the tariff at all whilst our nego- 
 tiations are pending with our neigh- 
 tors it would hardly be advisable for 
 bors. In this I will say no more, but 
 the government is ready to respond 
 fully to the advances that are made to 
 us for reciprocity. I would say this, 
 however, that whatever we do with our 
 neighbors, whatever we may be able 
 to accomplish, nothing we do shall in 
 any way impair or affect the British 
 preference. \ That is a cardinal part 
 of our policy. The hour is advanced and 
 I cannot give more information on this 
 point at this moment. 
 
 Terminal Elevators 
 
 I pass now from the tariff resolution 
 and I come to the question of terminal 
 elevators. Here also I am glad to say 
 that in principle I agree with you. It 
 has been recognized that the farmers 
 in the West have a grievance in the 
 present condition of things which pre- 
 vail at this moment. Where shall we 
 seek a remedyl My colleague and friend 
 the minister of trade and commerce, 
 Sir Bichard Cartwright, has been giving 
 his attention to this matter and has a 
 bill on the subject already prepared. 
 When I was in the West last summer 
 I stated to the different delegations of 
 the Grain Growers' Association who did 
 me the honor to interview me and my 
 colleagues that we should not submit 
 any legislation to parliament relating to 
 this matter until we had had an oppor- 
 tunity of discussing it with the Grain 
 Growers' Association. Accordingly some 
 time ago I invited the Grain Growers' 
 Associations of Manitoba, Saskatche- 
 wan and Alberta to send delegates to 
 Ottawa to confer with us so that we 
 might prepare that bill. I am happy to 
 say that they are here today to assist 
 us in the preparation of that legislation. 
 
 •Now, you say the only remedy available 
 is the government ownership of the 
 terminal elevators at Port Arthur and 
 Fort William. That may be the case; 
 I have no opinio* to express at the pres- 
 ent time. But I would go farther and 
 ask you if the root of the problem does 
 not go even deeper than you have sug- 
 gested. I agree altogether with the re- 
 marks of Mr. Richardson when he said 
 that what we want is to keep up the 
 character of our grain in Europe. That 
 is the object we have in view. Will this 
 object be attained by merely looking 
 after the elevators at Port Arthur and 
 Fort William! If the ship loaded at 
 Port Arthur and Fort William could 
 deliver its charge at Liverpool the prob- 
 lem would be solved. You would pre- 
 serve the character of your grain until 
 it reached the ultimate market, "but of 
 course when a ship leaves Port Arthur 
 or Fort William it does not deliver its 
 cargo at Liverpool. It may deliver it at 
 Buffalo, it may deliver it at Port Col- 
 bourne. There it has to be unloaded. 
 If it is to go to Montreal it has to be 
 again unloaded and reloaded. The grain 
 may leave perfectly pure from Port 
 Arthur or Fort William but when it 
 goes into the elevator at Buffalo it may 
 be degraded and reach Europe in a con- 
 siderably changed condition. 
 
 The Premier's Remedy 
 
 The problem, therefore, is to look 
 after the character of the grain not 
 only at Port Arthur and Fort William, 
 but down to the very point where the 
 ship is loaded to clear for Liverpool. 
 When the grain is delivered at Buffalo 
 we have no control over it. We hand 
 it over to the control of our American 
 friends. It was stated by Capt. Rich- 
 ardson that the Minnesota operator has 
 transferred his usefulness or want of 
 usefulness to Port Arthur. He could as 
 easily transfer it to Buffalo and do 
 there what he is doing at Port Arthur. 
 But when we can carry our grain in 
 Canada to Montreal and load it on the 
 ship at Montreal' and see that it leaves 
 that port as it left Winnipeg we shall 
 have solved the problem. So it comes 
 to this. It will not be sufficient in my 
 humble judgment to look after the ele- 
 vators at Port Arthur and Fort William, 
 but you must look after the elevators 
 at Port Colbourne and Montreal, where 
 the same operation that is complained of 
 takes place. That is the problem we 
 have before us. That problem will be 
 solved if we can so improve the carriage 
 of grain on the St. Lawrencp route that 
 it will not be possible to divert it to 
 American channels. This can be done 
 
 65 
 
only in two ways. We can improve the 
 St. Lawrence and we can provide also 
 a route through the Ottawa, which is 
 the shortest of all the routes between 
 east and west. When we are able to 
 accomplish this I think we shall have 
 solved the problem in a better way than 
 that suggested here. At all events I 
 offer you this suggestion today. 
 
 I am glad we have here the represen- 
 tatives, of the Grain Growers' Associa- 
 tions who are helping us to frame legis- 
 lation. That legislation was mentioned 
 in the speech from i,he throne and is to 
 be brought before parliament. 
 
 Hudson's Bay Bailway 
 
 As the hour is so late I. hope you will 
 excuse me if I do not deal with the 
 other problems you. have mentioned. Let, 
 me say one word only with regard to 
 the Hudson 's Bay Bailway. We are pre- 
 pared to go on with the Hudson's Bay 
 Bailway at this moment. We will give 
 due consideration - to your representa- 
 tions. Government ownership as I said 
 a moment ago is not altogether in my 
 line, but I think I can go that far. Gov- 
 ernment operation is a matter as to 
 which we shall give all due weight to 
 your representations. 
 
 D. W. McCuaig : — Sir Wilfrid, I have to thank you for the patient 
 hearing you have given us, for listening to us for this length of time, 
 on behalf of the Canadian Council of Agriculture.. We are now going 
 to have a photograph taken of the delegation in front of the buildings, 
 and we would like to have the pleasure of having you with us in 
 that photograph. 
 
 Sir Wilfrid : — I shall be very pleased. 
 
 The proceedings then terminated at 2.30 p.m. 
 
The Canadian Council 
 of Agriculture 
 
 NOTE — The beginning of the Dominion-wide farmers' organiza- 
 tion was made at the annual meeting of the Dominion Grange in 
 Toronto in November, 1909. At that meeting, at which representatives 
 were present from the farmers' organizations from Manitoba and 
 Saskatchewan, a constitution was drawn up and adopted. In the 
 following month it was adopted by the annual convention of the 
 Manitoba Grain Growers' Association at Brandon; in January, 1910, 
 it was adopted by the annual convention of the United Farmers 
 of Alberta at Edmonton, and in February, 1910, it was adopted by 
 the Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association at their annual conven- 
 tion held at Prince Albert. The Prince Albert convention was 
 attended by E. C. Drury. Master of the Dominion Grange, and at 
 the close of the convention the Canadian Council of Agriculture 
 was formally organized, its membership being composed of the 
 executive officers of the various affiliated associations. The first 
 officers elected were: D. "vv". McCuaig, President Manitoba Grain 
 Growers' Association, President; James Bower, President United 
 Farmers of Alberta, Vice-President; E. C. Drury, Master Dominion 
 Grange, Secretary-Treasurer. Each of the affiliated associations have 
 voted $100 to the funds of the Canadian Council. 
 
 The Canadian Council of Agriculture is the first successful 
 attempt ever made to organize the farmers of all Canada. It is 
 . hoped that the work of organization will be pushed so that by another 
 year there will be a live farmers' organization in every province of 
 the Dominion, working shoulder to shoulder with its sister provinces 
 for the solution of common problems. 
 
 The constitution of the Canadian Council is given below, and 
 should be carefully considered by every reader of this booklet. 
 
 This Association shall be called the (b) To collect such material from 
 
 Canadian Council of Agriculture. scientific and literary sources; the 
 
 The objects of the Association annals of class movements and the 
 
 shall be: records of legislative enactments in our 
 
 (a) To organize the farm population own and other countries as are neces- 
 
 of the Dominion for the study of social sary for the proper information of our 
 
 and economic problems having a bear- people and disseminate the same. 
 
 iUjj on the happiness and material pros- (e) To formulate our demands for 
 
 perity of the people. legislation and present them through 
 
the officers of the Association to the 
 notice of parliament and our different 
 legislative bodies. 
 
 (d) To encourage the entry of our 
 farmers into active membership in one 
 or other of the political associations 
 according to individual predisposition 
 as a means to make the political parties 
 without distinction responsive to and 
 representative of the demands of the 
 people who form the bulk of the popu- 
 lation. 
 
 (e) To urge the adoption of co- 
 operative methods by our members 
 (but outside our association) in the 
 purchase and sale of commodities that 
 equity may be established in the 
 business of exchange. 
 
 2. Any association of farmers en- 
 tirely independent of government con- 
 trol in the Dominion of Canada organ- 
 ized to give effect to any or all of the 
 purposes set forth in the preamble of 
 this constitution shall be eligible for 
 membership in this association. 
 
 3. The membership of the Council 
 shall consist of the executives of each 
 of the affiliated associations provided 
 that no affiliated association shall be 
 represented by more than five members. 
 
 i. The officers of the Council shall 
 consist of a President, Vice-President 
 and Secretary-Treasurer, to be elected 
 from the members- of the Council at 
 each annual meeting. 
 
 5. Five members, to be drawn from 
 not less than three associations, shall 
 
 constitute a quorum for the transaction 
 of business at the annual or special 
 meeting. The Council shall hold a 
 meeting at least once a year. 
 
 6. The time and place of meeting 
 shall be fixed by the President, provid- 
 ing that a meeting must be held when 
 demanded by any three associations 
 having membership in the Council. One 
 month 's notice of meeting must, how- 
 ever, be given, except a majority of 
 associations declare for an emergency 
 meeting, when one week's notice shall 
 suffice. 
 
 7. The expenses incurred in the con- 
 duct of the business of the Council shall 
 be provided for by a pro rata levy on 
 the membership of the affiliated asso- 
 ciations as shown in the last annual 
 report of each. 
 
 S. Travelling expenses of delegates 
 to the Council shall be pooled, and the 
 flat rate borne by the association which 
 they represent in proportion to the 
 number of delegates sent. 
 
 f>. Living expenses of delegates 
 when in session shall be borne by the 
 association they represent. 
 
 XOTE — It is recommended that all 
 associations seeking affiliation under 
 the Council shall prefix their respective 
 constitutions with a preamble setting 
 forth the objects for which they are 
 associated in the general terms of the 
 preamble to the constitution of the 
 Council. 
 
 
 ne 
 
The Canadian Council of 
 Agriculture i ate d Bodies :: 
 
 DOMINION GRANGE OF ONTARIO 
 
 The Grange was organized in the early seventies. Some ten 
 years ago, when the Grange was taking comparatively little interest 
 in puhlic affairs, a Farmers' Association was organized in Ontario 
 to voice the views of the farmers in regard to legislation. Later on 
 the two organizations united, and since then, under the name of the 
 Grange, have been an exceedingly active agency in maintaining the 
 rights of the farm in matters of legislation. The taxation of the rail- 
 ways has been put on a fairer basis; farmers have been given the same 
 rights in regard to drainage across railway lines that prevail in regard 
 to drainage across^rivate property, and railway companies have been 
 made responsible for cattle killed on railways when killing results 
 from imperfect protection of crossings. The Grange and the Farmers' 
 Association were the first two farmers' organizations to appear before 
 the Tariff Commission of 1905 for the purpose of protesting against 
 the increase in the Tariff which protected interests were then demand- 
 ing. For information apply J. J. Morrison, Secretary, Arthur, Ont. 
 
 MANITOBA GRAIN GROWERS' 
 ASSOCIATION 
 
 This organization comprises a total membership of about 10,000 
 farmers with 200 local organizations throughout the province. 
 The membership fee is $1.00 per year. For information apply to 
 R. McKenzie, Secretary-Treasurer. 
 
 SASKATCHEWAN GRAIN GROWERS' 
 ASSOCIATION 
 
 This organization comprises 10,000 farmers with 350 local organ- 
 izations in the province. The membership fee is $1.00 per year. 
 There are 650 life members at $12 each, of which $10 is placed in 
 trust fund and the interest used for the support of the central office. 
 For information apply to F. W. Green, Secretary, Moose Jaw, 
 
 Sask. 
 
 UNITED FARMERS OF ALBERTA 
 
 This organization numbers about 10,000 farmers with 215 local 
 unions. The membership fee is $1 .00 per year, half going to the local 
 and half to the central, as in the other Western provinces. For 
 information apply to E. J. Fream, Secretary, Innisfail, Alta. 
 
Every Farmer In Canada 
 
 Should Become a Member 
 
 Every farmer in Canada should become a member of the best 
 farmers' organization in his province. By so doing the farmers will 
 possess the influence to secure their due from governments and par- 
 liament. When all the provincial organizations are united in the 
 Canadian Council of Agriculture the farmers of Canada will then be 
 a force to be reckoned with. They will be the ruling power of Canada 
 and wilJ be able to 
 
 Secure Justice 
 
 against the combined forces of the manufacturers, the railways and 
 other corporations that have received large government patronage. 
 Farmers' organizations can all afford to be independent of govern- 
 ments. The time when government grants should prevent free 
 expression of opinion has gone by. No government gives larger 
 grants to any farmers' organizations than they deserve, and it is all 
 the people's money, anyway. The farmers of Canada have nothing' 
 to gain by humility. Let them assert their rights. Denmark is a 
 great success as an agricultural country. 
 
 Why " 
 
 Because the farmers own the government. It is time the farmers of 
 Canada owned their governments. It is time to declare their in- 
 dependence from all the oppression of special privileged classes. 
 
9