The central record. (Lancaster, Ky.) 18??-current, 1922-08-03
..Me Farm Bu re0u
Movement"
A Striking Book Review
by
John L. Hcsion in the New York Eve
ming Word"

TIP in the Cstskills a young Cornell
graduate drives busted bronco automo.
bile over obstacle. that would turn a New
| York taSicab artist pale With fright. TIE
goes everywhere, IN any weather. lie can
give advice on bugs. blights. soil inocula
ton. dairy methods. Tie Is the County
Farm Agent
Down in Washington a group Of Sena-
tors and Representatives. elected by one
| party or another. disregard party to do
the bidding Of a new lobby. arisen to power
in a single extra session - suddenly that
the city public scarcely realizes Il. This
lobby. 10 which the Anti.Saloon League Is
an amateur. recently bumped into Presi-
dent Harding himself by marshallins
| The votes OF ninety.iour Republican Repre-
sentatives against the lowering Of the so
| per cent surtaS on very rich men. which
Mr., Harding had recommended.
From the modern knight Grant in the
tanned fvver hghtins the modern micro
scopic dragons TO the great organization
in Washington that commands and We
toes legislation Is only two short jumps.
According TO Orville Merton Kile. late
Assistant Washington Representative Of
I the American Farm Bureau Federation
/ that Is the new power. in "Th. Farm
Bureau Movement Macmillan, the
frs, County Farm Agent in the United
states on the present plan was John II.
Barron. in Broorie County. y. Y. Funds
were provided by the Binghamton Cham
Der OF Commerce. the United States De
parment OF Agriculture and the Lacks.
I II. &.
guidance The date was 1911.
Now there is Farm Agent in most Of
the counties. usually with an assistant or
two Associated with him. but indie
pendent. Is often a young woman who also
drives a wicked motor car up the side OF
boulder when Necessary. and who can
tell the farmers wives about science ap-
piled TO housekeeping And let not city
people suppose that they despise the Home
Bureaus book larnin'." They do not.
Any more than the farmers repel the Of
fered aid OF the agent. lie is their man
For behind him il the Farm Bureau
organization. local to the county. IL in
cludes practical farmers. When the World
War sucked the United States into its
maelNrom. the Farm Bureaus became
sources OF war strength. IL was only
when they combined, first in State and
now in a national organization completely
represented IN every state and with presi-
dent who issues orders to Congress that
the famous bloc" appeared. 10 which
President Harding devoted awe-struck
consideration in his message.
Mir Kie describes farmers movements
OF the past that have sought power and
vanished from sight OF, like the Granse.
have been diverted to sociability. tie -
. cruel enough to point out many demands
OF those temporary organizations, satir-
ised then in cities. that have become lac.
Call die roll: Regulation OF railroads.
popular election OF senators. the x. +.
ID. mail. parcel post. postal savings banks.
Federal improvement OF roads. Anti
Trust Laws. the land bank. a panic proof
currency. We take all these things for
granted now. yet how bitterly every one
was once fought as "socialistic.
Ia is easy 10 call the farmers' bloc"
Soviet IL is. in fact. about hfty-hfty-
half Soviet or guild socialism as demanded
by G.. II. ID. Cole and Others in England.
and half regional representation as al
present: only regional representation is
ITSELF often Of guild nature; Tor farrs is-
sues are sectional. Wall Street is a sec
ton. North Dakota is another. And.
as Mr.. kile's book will demonstrate.
North Dakota's experiments have been
dispraised for the wrong reasons.
Most OF the things North Dakota sought
TO do were proper and would be for the
public ~ well as for the particular interest
If the league could only do them. Ii
should be condemned not for rsdicalism
but for inefhciency. IL bit of more than
IL could chew. IL Is no more immoral for
the farmer to demand legislation in his
interest than il has been for the manu-
featuring trust TO demand protection"
in the past. while the staple farmer sold
his product at free-trade prices and was
double-Crossed
SAYS Mr.. kile. The Farm Bureau.
being moderate in its demands. got from
Congress in the session just ended prac-
tically everything il asked tor'-Capper-
Tincher Grain Exchange. Packer Control
Bill. Federal Aid to Roads Bill. Farm
Financing and Crop Exporting Bills In
addition, the plans for a sales tax we're
blocked The book went y pre1s t2o
early TO chronicle the browning achieve
ment that scared Mr.. Hardng-the defeat
OF the effort to reduce income super-taS
on very rich men. How the country has
wep, over the souows OF these poor Eel.
lows
People generally avoid important books
But II they really wish TO know how James
r Howard suddenly has more power over
legislation than the President Of the
United States, the story is told by Mir