35 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



behind the scenes" for his brother; manager of The Commoner, the Bryan 

 sheet; mayor of Omaha; and city commissioner of Lincoln before becom- 

 ing governor. As governor, he would not hesitate to sit on his desk 

 "with his hat on ... and talk to you with the utmost naturalness. . . .' n 



In Kansas a farmer-labor combination put Jonathan Davis, a Democrat, 

 in the governor's position. This was unusual for a state that was as "rock- 

 ribbed Republican" as Kansas. Harvey J. Allen, the outgoing Republican 

 officeholder, who could not succeed himself, had aroused various elements 

 in the state. A big factor in this was Allen's calling the legislature into 

 special session to pass a law that created an industrial-court commission 

 devoid of judicial functions and also forbade the calling of strikes in the 

 three basic industries transportation, coal mining, and the production 

 of food. Bitterness and name-calling resulted. Strikes continued despite 

 the law. Davis, "a person of no renown," at least so it was claimed, but 

 who had the reputation of wearing overalls, milking cows, and sowing 

 and reaping, had voiced opposition to the industrial court; he said that 

 it had failed and many Kansans apparently believed him. Obviously, the 

 farmers played a great role in this triumph, because some 65 per cent of 

 the people in the state lived on farms. On the whole, the state was devoid 

 of large factory towns and the problems of urban labor. Farmers were 

 restless because of low wheat prices and the failure of the outgoing admin- 

 istration to lower taxes. 17 



The Democrats were quick to interpret the results of 1922 in an en- 

 couraging light, while progressives saw them as a mandate to go ahead 

 with their program. 18 La Follette's statement was this : 



Can you not understand this wonderful movement which is sweeping over the 

 Middle West? ... It is organized because there is a belief among the people 

 that there is a power that puts them at a disadvantage by controlling the market 

 price of everything they buy. They have appealed to the Democratic Party; they 

 have appealed to the Republican Party, and they have appealed in vain for relief, 

 for legislation to break the power that took out of their toil just what tribute 

 it pleased. 19 



16. Ibid., pp. 482-84; New Yor% Times, July 13, 1924. 



17. Charles B. Driscoll, "Kansas Cleans Up Governor Allen's Mess," The Nation, 

 CXV (December 6, 1922), p. 600; Haynes, in Social Forces, IV (September, 1925), 



PP- 153-54- 



18. Christian Science Monitor, November 8, 1922. 



19. Quoted in Rowell, World's Wor^, XL VI (August, 1923), p. 412. 



