to and raised the maximum compensation to $1,800. To assuage farm leaders, he also included an exemption for farm labour. Railway scandal Cross was re-elected in the 1909 election as one of two members elected in the newly expanded Edmonton district. Soon after, in February 1910, Cushing resigned from cabinet, stating that he disagreed with Rutherford's approach to railway policy and specifically with his actions regarding the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway (A&GW). The A&GW was one of several new railways to take advantage of the government's offer, made under considerable public pressure, of loan guarantees. Cushing and John R. Boyle attacked Rutherford's government, with the latter charging that the Deputy Attorney-General, S. B. Woods, had removed papers from the government's files on the A&GW. Cross denied these charges on his deputy's behalf. Boyle followed with a motion that the assets of the A&GW, which he believed was taking advantage of the government's guarantees to build a sub-standard railway at government expense, be expropriated. Cross led the government's opposition to the motion. On March 9, Cross abruptly resigned as Attorney-General; Woods resigned the next day. Cross gave as his reason that Rutherford had told him that Cushing was re-entering cabinet, and Cross felt that that made his position untenable. Cushing gave a different account: he said that he had been asked by Rutherford to re-enter cabinet, and that the Premier had told him that if he did, Cross would resign. However, he denied ever having agreed to do so, and accused Cross of fabricating his story completely. Rutherford stayed silent until March 11, when he announced that he had refused Cross's resignation, and that he was still Attorney-General. Soon after, Boyle made his own set of accusations, saying that agents of the liquor license department, which was under Cross, had been demanding bribes from hoteliers in exchange for licenses and that Cross was aware of this. Cross denied the charge. The crisis divided the Liberal Party into two camps: the pro-government Liberals, led by Cross and Rutherford, and the insurgent Liberals, led by Cushing and Boyle. The insurgents' objective was to replace Rutherford with Cushing. Though most important Liberals outside the legislature, including Bulyea and Oliver, lacked confidence in Rutherford, they had little more in Cushing. Some newspapers characterized the struggle as the visible element of a battle for influence between Oliver, long Alberta's most prominent Liberal, and Cross, seen