AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



Party" or else a third-party ticket, and scheduled the holding of a national 

 convention in the Twin Cities on May 30, 1924, for the nomination of 

 candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the United States. In- 

 vitations were sent out to farmer-labor groups in the Dakotas, Montana, 

 Idaho, Washington, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Kansas, to the National 

 Farmer-Labor party, the Federated Farmer-Labor party, the National 

 Progressive party, and to certain eastern groups that were eager to promote 

 unity among the various liberal and progressive groups. 32 



By early 1924 the La Follette boom was also under way in the neighbor- 

 ing state of North Dakota. It was headed by Gerald P. Nye and John 

 Andrews. 33 The following month a convention of Nonpartisan Leaguers 

 asked La Follette to head a third-party ticket and also decided to find out 

 where Senators Lynn Frazier, Henrik Shipstead, and Magnus Johnson 

 stood on the question. 34 



Opinions regarding the future prospects of a new alignment varied. The 

 Farmer-Laborites and progressives thought that the time to strike was near 

 at hand. One eastern newspaper was ready to concede that La Follette had 

 strength in the West, especially among the wheat growers, but felt that 

 he had very little beyond that. His war record was considered a distinct 

 handicap in the East. 35 In the spring of 1924 Governor Preus of Minnesota 

 created a sensation in Republican and Democratic circles by stating that 

 a third-party movement headed by La Follette had actually captured the 

 West: "It is real and nothing is to be gained by ignoring it." Preus pre- 

 dicted that La Follette, if he lived, would carry Minnesota, Wisconsin, 

 North and South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Colorado, and perhaps 

 Iowa. 36 



In March La Follette set political leaders wondering by withdrawing 

 his name from the ballot in the Republican primaries of North Dakota, 

 Wisconsin, and Michigan. These withdrawals were accompanied by a 

 statement to the effect that he had no hope of seeing a progressive nom- 

 inated by the Republicans that June. This immediately brought to mind 



32. St. Paul Dispatch, November 17, 1923. 



33. Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), January 18, 1924. 



34. St. Paul Dispatch, February 9, 1924. 



35. Christian Science Monitor, February 12, 1924. 



36. Chicago Herald Examiner, April 5, 1924. 



