| Summary: | On March 14, 1911, following the recommendations of the
Saskatchewan Royal Commission on Grain Elevators, the Sask
atchewan government of Walter Scott created the Saskatchewan
Co-operative Elevator Company (SCECo). It marked the
cUlmination of a decade of farmer attempts to reform the
grain trade. Supported by the Saskatchewan Grain Growers'
Association (SGGA), the Co-op, as the elevator company came
to be known, experienced tremendous growth. Membership
expanded from 2,508 in 46 locals to 13,156 in 192 locals
during the first three years of operation. By 1917 the
SCECo operated 258 country elevators, a marketing company
with a seat on the Winnipeg Grain Exchange, and a terminal
elevator at Port Arthur. Still, the Co-op was not a
complete success.
The farm movement had looked upon elevator reform as a
panacea for handling, marketing, transportation and credit
problems. Under the terms of its charter, however, the
SCECo operated within the existing marketing system buying
and selling grain to supplement its unprofitable storage and
handling business. Moreover, the Company's commercially
minded and centralised management refused to implement
several non-marketing reforms desired by the farm movement.
Despite the Co-opts great success in the elevator business,
it failed to meet the high expectations of farmers.
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