66 DEEP FURROWS 



This man with the snappy blue eyes and caustic 

 tongue was among the first to foresee " the rising 

 colossus," the shadow of which was creeping slowly 

 across the farmer's path, and he watched the " brewing 



I menace " with growing concern. <sWith every ounce of 

 his tremendous energy he resented the encroachment 



) of Capital upon the liberties of Labor.^ Being of the 

 people and temperamentally a democrat, he had a great 

 yearning for the reorganization of society in the general 

 interest. His championship in this direction earned 

 him the reputation in some quarters of being full of 

 " fads," a visionary. But his neighbors, who had toiled 

 and suffered beside him through the years, knew " Ed." 

 Partridge, man to man, and held him in high regard; 

 they admired him for his human qualities, respected 

 him for his abilities, and wondered at his theories. On 

 occasion they, too, shook their heads doubtfully. They 

 could not know the big part in their emancipation 

 which this friend and neighbor of theirs was destined 

 to play through many days of crisis. Not yet had the 

 talley begun. 



But events even now slowly were shaping. With the 

 winning of their first clash the farmers' movement was 

 achieving momentum. In the latter part of December, 

 19Q2, down in the town of Virden, Manitoba, a^com- 

 mittee was appointed at a meeting of the Virden 

 Agricultural So^^yj-^ arrange a district meeting for 

 the purpose of organizing the first Grain Growers' 

 Association \\\ ]\fa;mtnha. As soon as the date was set 

 J. W. Scallion wrote to W. R. Motherwell, urgently 

 asking him to assist in the organization. Although 

 roads and weather were rough, the President of the 

 Territorial Grain Growers' Association at considerable 

 inconvenience went down to Virden, taking with him 



