The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, December 22, 1919, Page 8

BY A. S. THURSTON (Associate Editor, Farmers’ Sun, Toronto) 7 NTARIO farmers have just work- 7| ed a revolution through which they have become the second province or state on this conti- nent to have a farmers’ govern- ment. These revolutionists have been painted in lurid colors, and have been called pro-German i (since we happened to be at | war the charge came easily) and everything else | that would turn public sentiment against them. | And yet Ontario farmers are conservative citi- . zens of a country to which they yield proud loyalty, and in which they have an average “stake” of province as a whole. The road has been as stony and difficult as that ' traveled by the Nonpartisans of North Dakota, and has been all the worse for the fact that the province is dominated, in the way of population, by the ' towns and cities. And because farmers realized | the decadence of their industry and set about to | nght it by doing what should have been done years before, they were called profiteers, threaten- ed with jail, were lied about and ridiculed. In the midst of this and because of this the United Falm- ers of Ontario flourished. Organized early in 1914 as an educational mstl- tution to arouse the men of the industry to a sense | of the grave danger of extermination hangihg over ' their heads, the U. F. O. had no definite program ahead of it. J. J. Morrison, as the moving spirit, | had a coterie of fellow enthusiasts who rallied be- hind the movement, and set about deliberately stir- ring up “class consciousness” aimong the old con- | servative Ontario farmers who showed a dangerous | tendency to be content with the languishing condi- tion of the industry as shown-by a decline of 23,000 a year in the rural population of the province. . But beyond this there was nothing definite in | view. It was recognized that with a strong agra- | rian organization it would be possible to make the [ Yoice of the farmer an important one in the land, | and so the first lesson in “voice culture” was given the industry. At that time there was apparently a definite campaign on the part of the daily press of the whole province to hold farmers up to ridicule and criticism as profiteers and malcontents. The campmgn has not yet died out, though early in the history of the U. F. O. a dinner was arranged at one of the swell Toronto clubs, where the editors of the Toronto dailies were well fed, and then told in plain language the conditions that exist on the farms, where one man is alone on 100 acres to run it with the help of his wife or a child—the actual condition today over large areas. But the hope that the dinner would prove a mellowing influence on the city editors proved vain, and the hostile spirit evident in the news and editorial columns broke out in the meeting, and it ended in confusion. The Dominion and provincial governments had - learned to pose as benevolent patrons of agricul- | ture, setting prices arbitrarily in some cases, regu- latmg mill feeds and their prices in other cases, | urging farmers to produce during the war “even at a loss.” And by the same token, this “even at a loss” cry was almost as effective in Ontario as the classic “go home and slop your hogs” was in North | Dakota—since munition-makers were guaranteed a percentage of profit. | PLEDGES OF CANDIDATES REPUDIATED AFTER ELECTIONS A tremendous impulse was given the U. F. 0 when in 1917 the election campalg’n to elect the Union ‘government was in full swing. Major Gen- ;eral Mewburn was the new minister of militia. | Speaking in a semi-rural riding he declared in out- ‘, spoken language that production was essential, and i that conscription would not apply to farmers’ sons; moreover, if he found that any had _aheady been taken by the draft he would see after his election that they { were discharged, so that the production to get the seat of his chair warmed when he issued an order canceling all exemptions, and in many cases young men were taken from the farms when they were the sole worker on the farm, and the sole " Quebec. plobably $8,000 to $10,000 or more, taking the : of foodstuffs would net suffer. He had hardly time . support of widowed mothers. Exemption to these cases was refused until a legal fight occasionally brought relief. A wave of indignation swept over the province, which was already sadly depleted by natural mi- gration from the farms, and voluntary enlistment in the army, and the U. F. O. arranged for a great delegation to go to Ottawa and beard the govern- ment in its den. Delegates were appointed by town- ship and county councils to join with the U. F. O,, and 4,000 Ontarians journeyed to the eapital, where to their surprise they were met by 2,000 more from It was evidently a scheme to prejudice Ontario against it, but it resulted in a marvelous " good will between farmers of the two provinces— formerly kept apart. . It was demanded of the government that exemp- tion be given to young men who were the sole sup- E. C. Drury, new farmer premier of Ontario. port of a widow or aged parents, or where there was only one man on the farm. Sir Robert Borden declared that this could not be done—but some months later did essentially this. The daily press distorted the meeting in its re- ports, and made it appear that exemption had been asked for all farmers’ sons. This put the U. F. O. in a bad light before the public, from which it is only now emerging, but at the same time it demon- strated to the farmers of the province that by or- ganizing they would be better able to stand out for their own rights—and by this time it was fairly well established that their rights were being tram- pled on in many ways, especially by irksome war- time regulations, not- the least of which was a rigid press censorshlp, which even went so far as to preclude serious criticism of the government itself. The Union government was, of .course, elected with an 8verwhelming majority, because the peo- ple of Ontario had their whole heart 'in the war. " But the war-time elections act, by which, it was won, was a tribute to the lack of faith the govern- ment had in the people which were ready to sup- port it without any juggling. The franchise act is not spoken of with pride by the men who were elected under it. For instance, the vote was only given to such women as had brothers, sons or hus- Merry Christmas Christmas o ; PAGE ‘EIGHT ICanadian Farmers in the War and After Producers Urged te *“Grow at a Loss”> While Millers Fattened—Farms Stripped of Help Despite Pledge of Candldates bands on active service. Such women as had neither brothers, sons or husbands, but were British sub- jects from birth, were denied the franchise. But in this the U. F. O. thrived, for it proved a multitude of examples to show the most unwilling the points of weakness which must be corrected be- fore we can be a prosperous people. - And there were plenty. Farmers were urged to grow more hogs, and * when the government agitators were faced with the lack of help available for the farms, one millionaire cabinet minister suggested that the farmers’ wives could look after the pigs and clean out the pens. The good women of the farms just “ate this up,” when it was drawn to their attention by the U. F. O., and became as zealous for organization as the men were. PRICE SET LOWER THAN PRODUCING COST When the wheat price was being set, it was shown by the U. F. O. that instead of it being, as was claimed by the daily press, an extravagant price, it did not cover the cost of production, when it came to winter wheat, many fields of which kill- ed out badly and had to be sown very largely to other grain in the spring. And yet the farmers were urged to grow more wheat, with a maximum price set, and no minimum thought of. Producers were quick to see that it could go as low as it wished, and the government would do nothing, though setting a price above which it could not go. Local club meetings were addressed, all through this, by leading speakers of the U. F. O. and from the organized farmers of western Canada, who periodically came East to help us. County conven- tions were held, at which enthusiasm was fanned to a white heat. Then, each winter, the annual con- vention came, lasting three or four days, at which the whole situation was thoroughly canvassed, and the delegates learned of things that amazed and surprised them, incidentally providing a little in- sight into the causes of the decline of agriculture in the province. But as an organization of the farmers of the province it did a great deal more than this educa- .- tional work. As a club in their hands it enabled a real influence to be brought for the benefit of all. When freight and express rates were to be raised, the U. F. O. retained the services of a friendly lawyer, who had not forgotten that he was born on a farm, and he fought the increases before the rail- way board, along with the representatives of other farmers’ organizations, so successfully as to put the increase off for a year. This meant a saving of over $4,000,000 to the people of Ontario, most of which would come from the farmers themselves. The United Farmers have also been trying to force from the reluctant government a ‘modern _terminal elevator at Toronto, to handle the grain of Ontario. It would be provided with “hospital” equipment to handle grain that would otherwise . spoil. There is an annual waste in Ontario equal to the cost of such an &levator, but for some reason or other all efforts along this line have been un- availing so far. Sécretary Morrison holds that the greatest work that the U. F. O. can do or has done is the developmg of a greater and more intelligént in- terest in the politics of the country—and he is always careful to make-it clear that politics is “the science of government.,” By discussing pub- lic affairs in a broad way, and leaving party poli- ties as such strictly alone, he has been the main instrument in developing a great quickening in the political life of the province. The people were ready for something bigger and better than the petty politics of the “ins” and “outs,” and even though the movement came from the farmers it was accepfed by the people as something worth while for all classes, when the U. F. O. entered the provincial arena and were given charge of the legislature by the voters. No other section of the community was dxscuss- ing these things. Had they been the U. F. 0. would have had stronger allies in the battle; but as it was the people have finally, after six years, given to the U. F. O. acknowledgment that its principles and ideals are “right.” Now that they have also been given the opportunity for develop- ing them into actual practices, the real testing time: has come. ~if > ~7 | »