CHAPTER XXIII 



THE DEPTH OF THE FURROWS 



Men at some time are masters of their fates: 

 The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 

 But in ourselves, that we are underlings. 



Julius Caesar. 



BECAUSE it was the logical and primary source 

 of redress for the abuses which led the Western 

 farmers to organize, the Grain Growers from the 

 first have concerned themselves seriously with legis- 

 lation. It took them a little while to discover that 

 instead of being an all-sufficient panacea, mere legis- 

 lation may become at times as flat and useless as a 

 cold pancake. But by the time the farmers had come 

 to close quarters with their difficulties their vision had 

 widened so that they were able to look ahead, clearing 

 the path for the next step forward. So frequently have 

 they besought the Governments, both Federal and 

 Provincial, that occasionally they have been accused 

 by harassed politicians of "playing politics and 

 nothing else." 



As their organizations grew and-- acquired knowledge 

 it is true that these "petitioners" who "did humbly 

 pray " began to straighten their backs a little, the while 

 they wrestled with the kinks that were bothering them 

 from too much stooping. It was a sort of chiropractic 

 process for the alleviation of growing pains the dis- 

 covery of the proper nerve to ask and receive, to seek 

 and find. As the People grew more accustomed to the 



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