ught for it long and earnestly and
victory meant a very great deal; but it had seemed still beyond reach.

In the case of Manitoba it only remained now to get together and thresh
out the details. A strong committee was appointed to conduct
negotiations with the Government and there was prepared a memorandum of
the plan which the farmers recommended the Government to follow. This
was presented on January 5th, 1910.

The Government and the Grain Growers then each got ready a bill for
consideration by the Legislature. Many conferences took place. The
Government refused the farmers' bill and the farmers did not approve of
the Government's proposals. While leaving full financial control in
the hands of the Government, the Grain Growers demanded that the
operation of the elevators be undertaken by an absolutely independent
commission without any political affiliations whatsoever; it was
provided also that no officer of the Grain Growers could act on this
commission. The Government did not deem it wise to let control of the
managing commission out of its hands. So negotiations were broken off.

The Manitoba Government now prepared a new bill, but did not remove the
features to which the farmers were objecting. This bill was passed and
the Government voted $50,000 for initial expenses and $2,000,000 for
acquiring elevators. Beyond a weak protest from the North-West Grain
Dealers' Association the elevator owners had not shown much excitement
over the situation. While the Manitoba Grain Growers were not
satisfied that the Government plan would work out successfully and
therefore refused to assume responsibility in connection with it, they
were ready nevertheless to lend their best co-operation to the Manitoba
Elevator Commission when it got into action.

In the Province of Saskatchewan an altogether different plan was
evolved in due course. The investigating commission, appointed
February 28th, 1910, consisted of three well qualified men--George
Langley, M.P.P.; F. W. Green, Secretary of the Saskatchewan Grain
Growers' Association; Professor Robert Magill, of Dalhousie University,
Nova Scotia, the latter acting as chairman. The commission held
sittings at many points in Saskatchewan, taking evidence from a large
number of farmers, went to Winnipeg to meet representatives of elevator
companies, the Exchange and Government officials, and also visited
several American cities. Their final report, consisting of 188
ty