20 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O. 



young men in any appreciable numbers, and 

 without young blood enthusiasm waned. 



Mistakes were made undoubtedly, but even 

 if the mistakes were far more serious than all 

 those mentioned by Mr. Wilkie, there would 

 still stand to the credit of the Grange a vast 

 amount of useful service. It represented the 

 first real effort to unite farmers for the protection 

 of their legitimate interests, at a time when 

 political partisanship and sectarian division 

 were much more pronounced than they are at 

 present. It brought together men of all faiths 

 and various political views, upon a common 

 meeting ground, where public questions were 

 discussed and good fellowship promoted. 



Besides doing its share in developing a high 

 type of citizenship, it was the originator of the 

 cash system of trading in rural Ontario. While 

 undoubtedly the practice of the local merchant 

 and blacksmith allowing credit to his customers 

 did much to mitigate hardship in the days of 

 the early settlers, provided the merchant and 

 blacksmith were honest, unscrupulous men were 

 not slow to take advantage of the opportunity 

 it offered for charging extortionate prices, and 

 for eventually acquiring the customer's property. 

 In any case the customer had to pay for the 

 service. The custom had become so deep rooted 

 that both courage and perseverance were re- 



