, the while they wrestled with the kinks that were
bothering them from too much stooping. It was a sort of chiropractic
process for the alleviation of growing pains--the discovery of the
proper nerve to ask and receive, to seek and find. As the People grew
more accustomed to the sound of their own Voice it was only natural
that the quaver of timidity began to disappear from the tones of it and
that their speech grew stronger in the Legislative Halls dedicated to
government "of, by and for" them. The "Backbone of His Country" set
out to prove that he was not spineless, merely disjointed. And as he
gained confidence in his vertebrae the Farmer began to sit up and take
notice--began even to entertain the bold idea of getting eventually
upon his feet.

The intention was laudable. To make it audible he assembled a
platform, stood up on it, and argued. His protests could be heard
clean to the back of the Hall. Like the young elephant whose trunk was
being stretched by the crocodile, he said: "You are hurting me!" In
the nose-pulling game of Party Politics as it too often has been
played, it sometimes takes a lusty holler to make itself heard above
all the other hollering that is going on; if getting a hearing is
"playing politics," then the Grain Growers have run up a pretty good
score.

They began with various amendments to the Grain Act. These included
the famous "car distribution" clause, the farmer's right to a car and
his procedure to obtain it and additional cars as he needed them, the
provision of penalties for the purchase or sale of car rights, etc.
Opposition to some of these amendments was keen and the farmers had to
fight constantly; when they were not fighting for necessary amendments
they were fighting to retain those already secured. Constant vigilance
was required. Many delegations of Grain Growers visited Ottawa from
time to time to plead for improvement of conditions in handling grain,
more equitable inspection methods, government ownership and operation
of terminal facilities and so on.

Each year the annual conventions of the various associations in
Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta grew in size and importance; each
year the Grain Growers' knowledge expanded, much of it gained by
marketing experience. From these "Farmers' Parliaments" and the pages
of the _Grain Growers' Guide_ they drew inspiration for many radical
ideas and threshed them out into well defined policies. By the time
Sir W