Grain growers were vitally interested in politics at the local, provincial and federal levels. Organized political activities by farmers gained their first success in 1900 with the passage of the Manitoba Grain Act. In the years before 1914 farmers became more aggressive politically, acting as individuals and through their farm organizations. The issues that preoccupied them were the tariff, better regulation of the grain marketing system, the domination of central Canada, reform of the parliamentary system, votes for women and improving local services. This cartoon reflects the farmers' point of view on one of these issues. It shows a cow being fed by western farmers but milked by eastern business interests. The cartoon was drawn by Arch Dale whose work appeared for many years in The Grain Growers' Guide and the Winnipeg Free Press.
A number of strong political figures emerged through the organizations to argue the farmers' viewpoint. W.R. Motherwell, C.A. Dunning, T.A. Crerar, Robert Forke and H.W. Wood were the most prominent leaders produced by the first wave of farm militancy. At the end of the war and in the early 1920s the Progressive movement erupted on the prairies and across Canada. In 1921 sixty-four Progressives were elected to the House of Commons, thirty-seven coming from the prairies. Though holding the balance of power, the Progressives were largely ineffectual in Ottawa because of internal divisions and the manoeuvering of the Liberals and Conservatives. In the West, however, farm support was crucial to the effectiveness of provincial governments, whether they were organized by Liberals, Conservatives or directly by farmers as in the case of the United Farmers of Alberta. Indeed, until the rise of the large urban centres after 1945, rural areas had a decisive impact on provincial political life.
