*7 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



five men representing wealthy lumbermen and merchants of Minneapolis 

 and St. Paul." 



The legitimate League invaded Minnesota by publishing a pamphlet, 

 Facts for the Farmer, the purpose being to reveal to Minnesota farmers how 

 they were being robbed by the "land grabs" of corporations, the unequal 

 system of taxation, elevator men, millers, "grain gamblers," and "mani- 

 pulators of the butter and egg markets and unconscionable meat packers." 

 The pamphlet also charged that government in Minnesota was a one- 

 sided affair. Of the 67 members in the senate in 1917, only 9 were farmers; 

 and of the 130 members in the lower house, only 38 were farmers. It as- 

 serted that the business, financial, and professional groups comprised 

 only one-tenth of the population of the state, but held three-fourths of 

 the legislative seats and all major state offices. On the other hand, the 

 combined population of farmers and workers, comprising nine-tenths 

 of the population, held but one-fourth of the legislative seats and no 

 state offices. 100 A second pamphlet, Facts Kept from the Farmer, appeared 

 in September and attempted to show that "the huge investments of the 

 big financial and corporate interest for political campaigns and the 

 insidious efforts of such combinations . . . [were deceiving] the people 

 by means of 'good will campaigns.' " Wide circulation was given these 

 pamphlets through the mails. 



Many League leaders, especially those in Minnesota, believed that the 

 organization could grow nationally only with the aid of organized labor, 

 and consequently a determined bid was made for labor's support. While 

 it was true that a fusion of agrarian and laboring forces was brought about 

 in North Dakota, the growth of the League there was due primarily to 

 the predominant agricultural population of the state. In Minnesota, where 

 there were three large cities Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth and the 



99. William Watts Folwell, A History of Minnesota (4 vols., St. Paul, 1921-30), 

 III, 554. The rival league issued a paper, the Nonpartisan, beginning in August, but 

 it survived only until December. It expressed sympathy for the plight of the farmer 

 but attacked Townley as the exponent of socialism. The "fake" league published 

 two large issues of a paper called On The Square, distributing a great number at 

 a cost of $50,000. Some 50,000 copies of another pamphlet, America First, were 

 circulated, as well as tons of other anti-League literature. The "fake" league, it was 

 claimed, spent about $500,000. 



100. Facts for the Farmer (St. Paul, 1917), pp. 132-33. 



