The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-02-10
FARMERS ORGANIZATION in CANADA;
BIG PROVINCES OPERATE AS UNITS
Grain Growers Sell Direct Thru Own Elevators;
Farmers Finance Own Commercial Ven
lures Thru Government Endorsement

yatOrs and were successful In Sc
curing the passage Of what wal
ment owned and operated ele
known as The Manitoba Grain Act,
which compelled the railway com
nanes under certain conditions t.
build loading platforms from which
farmers could shovel their grain di.
rect from the wagons to the"cars and
forced the companies to supply cars
to farmers for loading as they were
supplied to the elevator companies
which with the government weighing
and grading at Winnipeg and with
the farmers owning thir own COM
mission company to sell their grain
, relieved the situation to great ex-
tent, but they kept pressing for bet
ter conditions.
In 1910 the Manitoba government
bought and built (most of them
bought from line companies at points
where the companies wished to sell)
TIA elevators and began to operate
them, but for storage purposes only
and in the first two years lost 1884,
600 of the peoples money.
In 1911 the Saskatchewan govern
ment passed an act providing for the
construction of line of elevators
at any railway point, where there
was 1000 acres or more of grain
grown annually and where the farm
ers would subscribe and pay in cash
20 per cent of the amount required
for the construction of the sized
yxrI,i oI, oh hn m
20 per cent of the required amount
for the purchase of any houses al
ready built, the government supply
ing the balance of the funds and al
lowing the farmers subscribing the
20 per cent to select their own board
Of directors for the management of
the business.
The government by later agree
ment with the board of directors sup
piled the funds for operating capital.
This, however, placed the stockhold-
ers of the company under obligations
to the government in power which is
not always good position for voters
to place themselves in.
They started in the fall of 1911
with forty-six elevators and in 1912
increased the number to 40 eleva-
tors. That year the Grain Growers
Grain company leased the Manitoba
elevators and a large terminal ele-
vator from the Canadian Paci,c Rail-
way company, with a capacity of
100000 bushels, which that COM
pany had not been able to make pay
expenses. The Grain Growers Grain
company also incorporated an export
company as subsidiary company to
handle the export business with a
view to delivering the grain direct to
the European markets. In the
spring of 1913 the Alberta govern
ment passed an act similar to the
Saskatchewan act except that we re-
quired the farmers to sign for stock
sufficient to build, or buy, their ele-
vators and to pay 20 per cent in cash
and 20 per cent each year for four
years and the government simply adj
vanced IS per cent of the cost and
spread the payments over twenty
years and took a mortgage on all
the elevators built. The farmers sup
piled their own working capital.
Under the bylaws each farmer who
subscribes for stock, regardless of
the amount subscribed, has one vote
for the selection of local board of
directors who simply act as an adj
visory board to the provincial board
who are responsible for the operation
of all the elevators.
Each local selects one representa-
tive to attend the annual meetings
of the stockholders when the pro-
vincial board is selected All earn
ings and expenses are pooled SO no
one house can fail on account of lack
of support or bad management as
might be the case If the management
was left to the local board of
directors. &
Each of the three companies found
it to the advantage of their stock
holders to handle binder Irvine, coal,
-four and feed, lumber, fence posts,
barbed wire and machinery in car
load quantities and as the Grain
Growers Grain company, which was
in the field first had stockholders in
all three provinces there was an over
laping which caused unnecessary ex-
pense and an amalgamation of the
three companies was soon considered