The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-12-18
COOLIDGE GETS
JOLT IN farm
BUREAU POLL
New Head Is Not Real
Farmer
BY CARL HAEssLER.

CHICAGO-(FP)-AlI the way to
Chicago from the white house in
Washington, and all in vain is the
bitter pill Calvin Coolidge is digesting
as he scans the election results of the
American Farm Bureau federation.
He had come west to help keep the
reactionary big-business leaders OF
Americas largest farm organization
in power and he had failed.
A new man, not dazzled by the
Coolidge bunk about higher" things
in farming than money, not impressed
by Calls advice to go to the usurious
bankers for help, not overawed by the
presidential frown on government ex-
port corporations, now sits in the
presiding chair of the American Farm
Bureau federation in place of the
road-packer-ba banker ally, c. z.
Bradfute. The new man is Sam H.
Thompson.
Tried to Save Old Guard.
Coolidge was summoned to Chicago,
not to tell Indifferent farmers that
agriculture in America has been
raised to the rank of a profession" as
he stated Dec. Z. His real mission
was to save the old guard in the farm
federation from defeat at the hands
of enraged and awakened delegates
who had come from 81 of 40 organized
states for new DEAL 1t was thought
that when Coolidge declared against a
government export corporation to
handle surplus farm products his
stand would discredit the opposition
that had crystallized around Sam
Thompson and would float Bradfute
back into power. But Thompson got
"a votes for president, Bradfute only
10 and 1 scattering. Coolidge proved
unable to deliver.
The new board of directors imme-
diately went on record for the very
export corporation that Coolidge had
personally branded as dangerous and
not helpful" Bradfute returned to
his broad Ohio acres in the bitterness
of defeat while Coolidge in the white
house is nursing his severely stubbed
agricultural toe and wondering what
farm policy will keep the western
states out of the insurgent column in
the November elections.
New Head Is Bankers
Too much should not perhaps be
expected of Thompson in his new Job.
Though born on a 40-acre farm near
Quincy Ill. 81 years ago and father
Of z children all living on Illinois
farms he is now substantial banker,
heading the Broadway bank of Quincy.
and only nominally farms the 500
acres he holds in Adams county. He
has been member of the Illinois
house of representatives at Spring
field and has been active in farm
federation work since 1915, heading
the Illinois section, known as the
Illinois Agricultural Assn. since 1923.
This is the second biggest unit in the
federation with $4,000 members, Iowa
leading with $4,000.
Thompson has been close to Frank
Lowden, former Illinois governor and
Pullman son-inlaw whose lieutenants
sought to buy his way to the repub-
lican presidential nomination in 1920.
Both Lowden and Thompson op-
posed the $26,OOO,OOO so-called cooper
alive Grain Marketing Co. Of which
Gray Silver was president and which
went up in smoke when the farmers
refused to bite and buy its stock. It
was later admitted by the principal
promoter Of the corporation that ID
was an unloading scheme by grain
gamblers like Armour and Rosenbaum
who wanted to get rid of their elevat.
ors and equipment at generous price
if the McNary-Haugen grain export
corporation bill passed congress as
then seemed likely.