136 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O. 



deciding factor in elections. Rather it is those 

 who think independently on the issues at 

 stake. 



Now farmers, composing about one half of the 

 population, were fairly evenly divided between 

 the two old parties, and the more even the 

 division, the less their influence in directing the 

 policies of the nation. To demonstrate this 

 fact we have only to cite the case of a large and 

 fruitful township in a western county containing 

 76,000 acres of farm lands, with not an incor- 

 porated urban municipality within its bound- 

 aries. The line of agriculture followed is mixed 

 farming and the population is of English and 

 Scotch descent. At the time of the Reciprocity 

 Election in 1911 the township contained about 

 twelve hundred voters. 



The reciprocity issue was one which affected 

 farmers vitally. It was not a matter of little 

 good or little harm; it was a measure that would 

 be attended by far-reaching results, and these 

 twelve hundred people were called upon to 

 register their opinion at the polls. When the 

 ballots were counted there was just a difference 

 of five votes in the majority from that recorded 

 at the previous election. To those who have 

 lived long in the country and know conditions 

 intimately, this is but a typical example of how 

 party affiliations held first place and beclouded 



