FIRST SHOT IS FIRED 57* 



"Certainly," agreed Mr. Aikins without hesitation, 

 and in solemn silence he and the President of the Asso- 

 ciation shook hands. 



This alteration in the information made the issue 

 even more far-reaching and it was a tense moment for 

 the farmers who packed the little court room when the 

 Magistrate opened proceedings and on behalf of the 

 Warehouse Commissioner, Mr. T. G. Mathers (now 

 Chief Justice Mathers, of Winnipeg), rose to his feet 

 for argument. After the evidence was complete and 

 the Magistrate at last handed down his decisionfifty 

 dollars fine and costs, to be paid by the defendant the 

 victorious grain growers were jubilant and especially 

 were the officers of the young Association proud of the 

 outcome. 



The case was carried to the Supreme Court by the 

 Railway Company ? which made every effort to have the 

 decision of the lower court reversed. When the appeal 

 case came to trial, much to the disgust and chagrin of 

 the railway authorities and the corresponding elation 

 of the farmers, the Magistrate's decision was sustained. 



At once the newspapers all over the country were full 

 of it. Oracles of bar-room and barber-shop nodded 

 their heads wisely; hadn't they said that even the 

 C. P. R. couldn't win against organized farmers, backed 

 up by the law of the land? Away East the news was 

 magnified till it became : " The farmers out West have 

 licked the C. P. R. in court and are threatening to tear 

 up the tracks!" At Ottawa Members of Parliament 

 dug into Hansard to see if they had said anything when 

 the Manitoba Grain Act was passed. 



Empty cars began to roll into Western sidings and 



.they were not all spotted to suit the elevators but were 



for farmers who had signified a desire to loftfl dli^t. It 



