RED RIVER VALLEY TO FOOTHILLS 147 



facturers who disapproved of its attitude on the tariff, 

 for instance, refused for a long while to use its adver- 

 tising columns. Each year as the Guide's struggle 

 went on there was an annual deficit and had it not been 

 for the grants with which the Grain Growers' Grain 

 Company came to its rescue, the paper must have gone 

 under. For this financial assistance the farmers' 

 trading company got no return except the satisfaction 

 of knowing that the money could not be spent to better 

 advantage in the interests of Western farmers. 



With the rapid developments in Alberta and the 

 robable future shipment of Alberta grain via the 

 Panama Canal route, branch offices were being opened 

 at Calgary by Winnipeg grain dealers. Not to be 

 behind in the matter of service, the farmers' company 

 followed suit. A Seed Branch Department to supply 

 good seed grain was another improvement in service 

 and the farmers by this time were taking a keen interest 

 in their trading organization. 



When the third annual meeting came around, there 

 was no longer any doubt that a farmers' business organ- 

 ization could succeed that this venture of the Grain 

 Growers was not going to go off with a loud bang at 

 least, not yet. 



But, as the President remarked, it seemed that they 

 had no more than touched the fringe of what remained 

 to be accomplished. One of the immediate questions 

 pressing for solution, he considered, was government 

 ownership of elevators. 



" Our Company's experience has demonstrated com- 

 pletely," he said, " that our grain marketing conditions 

 can never reach a proper basis as long as the elevators 

 necessary for that marketing are allowed to remain in 

 private hands for private gain. The Grain Growers' 



