162 DEEP FURROWS 



Partizan politics were rife in Canada and too often 

 have party " organs " and " subsidies " damper ed down 

 the fires of independence in the past. A few journals, 

 however, even in the days before the great changes of 

 the War, placed a jealous guard upon their absolute 

 freedom from trammelling influences and to-day they 

 reap the reward of public confidence. 



While not a newspaper, the Grain Growers' Guide 

 was a highly specialized journal for the Western 

 farmer, aiming frankly at educating him to be The 

 owner of his land, his produce, his self-respect and his 

 franchise : to make him self-thinking and self -reliant 

 and to defend him from unjust slurs. 



The editorial responsibility of carrying out such a 

 programme in the face of existing conditions required 

 a well chosen staff. In Koderick McKenzie, then 

 Secretary of the Manitoba Grain Growers' Association, 

 the farmers had an editor upon whose viewpoint they 

 could depend ; for he was one of themselves. But lack- 

 ing practical experience in newspaper work, it was 

 necessary to secure an Associate Editor who would 

 figure largely in the practical management of the 

 publication. McKenzie was finding that his duties as 

 Secretary of the Association were becoming too heavy 

 for him to attempt' editorial services as well; so that 

 not long after the appointment of an Associate Editor 

 he decided to devote his whole time to his official duties. 



In its selection of a young man to take hold the 

 Guide was fortunate. George Fisher Chipman was not 

 only a very practical newspaper man to meet the imme- 

 diate needs of the young journal, but he was capable 

 of expanding rapidly with his opportunities. Well 

 versed in the economic problems of the day, he was 

 known already in many magazine offices as a reliable 



