154 THE STORY OF THE U.F.O. 



may accept it or perhaps amend it, and send it 

 back to all the Provincial annual conventions 

 for endorsation. It then becomes the national 

 platform of organized agriculture throughout 

 Canada. Owing to the suddenness with which 

 election contests have been sprung it has not 

 always been possible to carry out this full pro- 

 cedure, but it is the process which the United 

 Farmers hold as a practical ideal and which they 

 have been able to live up to pretty well. 



Concerning the record of the farmer repre- 

 sentatives in Parliament much could be written, 

 but adequate treatment would require more 

 space than this chapter permits. When policies 

 initiated have had time to work out the results 

 will form the material for another study. Just 

 here we must content ourselves with noting that 

 in the Ontario Legislature several issues of far- 

 reaching importance have had to be dealt with 

 and have been faced resolutely. At Ottawa a 

 firm stand has been taken on questions such as 

 the Tariff, the Merchant Marine, the National 

 Railways and International Relations. What 

 the future holds is only forecasted by what the 

 farmers have already said and done. Their 

 hope for making a permanent contribution to 

 the national life rests in the thoroughness with 

 which they are possessed by lessons learned while 

 walking up and down the field behind the plow. 



