I’ve marvelled at how many stories the editors of The Western Producer managed to cram onto their front pages 100 years ago.
However, they deviated from that trend in the Sept. 12, 1929, issue when they ran only four stories.
It was a big news week in Saskatchewan.
One of the front page stories was about the previous week’s provincial election, in which the long-governing Liberal party fell to the Conservatives. The only artwork on the front page of this issue was a headshot of J.T.M Anderson, the province’s new premier.
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The other big story was the release of the Saskatchewan Royal Grain Inquiry report. A commission had been tasked with examining the feasibility of implementing compulsory wheat pooling in the province.
When I say this was a big story, I mean that literally. The story, which appeared to be a reprint of the commission’s entire report, started on the front page, jumped to page 11, where it took up almost the entire page, then jumped to page 13, again taking up almost the full page, and then jumping one last time to page 25, where it took half the page.
This was obviously a big deal.
The commissioners ultimately rejected compulsory pooling but didn’t stop there.
They made 40 other recommendations, including wider powers for the Board of Grain Commissioners, merging No. 1 Manitoba Hard wheat with No. 1 Northern, paying farmers real market value for screenings, extending final inspection at unload with appeal to 30 days and clarifying the Canadian Grain Act.
The report ended on a prosaic note rarely seen in modern official documents.
“We think it is not a time when the Pool member can afford to be impatient, but that, on the contrary, he has much reason for the exercise of patience and courage.”
That’s good advice in any decade.
