EARLY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS 27 



attended from the several bodies named. All 

 agreed that a Commission should be appointed, 

 and a joint delegation was named to wait on the 

 Government at Ottawa and urge the same. The 

 delegation performed the duty assigned, and 

 within a year the Railway Commission was 

 brought into being. 



No sooner had the Commission been appointed 

 than further steps were taken. The Farmers' 

 Association sent invitations to the Grange, 

 Fruit Growers, and Cattle Dealers, to join with 

 it in preparing a statement of demands for 

 readjustment of freight rates at the first sitting 

 of the Commission in Toronto, and again unity 

 of action was secured. That there was urgent 

 need of such readjustment is made clear by the 

 fact that American grain was then being hauled 

 from Duluth to Portland, largely over Canadian 

 transportation lines, at lie. per 100 Ibs., while at 

 the same time the Ontario rate from Midland 

 and other lake ports was 16^c., and the rate 

 on cattle from Chicago to the seaboard was less 

 than from Sarnia to the seaboard. Further- 

 more, rates within Canada were about 25% 

 higher than corresponding rates in the United 

 States. These and other facts were presented 

 before the Commission at the hearing in 

 Toronto, and the result was a readjustment in 

 charges, and an improvement in service that 



