3 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



As expected, bitter protests poured forth from the sponsors of the St. 

 Paul convention. The central committee accused La Follette of "gross mis- 

 representation" and of considering himself greater than the movement 

 itself. His sincerity was open to suspicion. Once he was held to be the 

 man best qualified to lead a movement that was greater than any single 

 person, but his actions had erased all such beliefs. His charge that the 

 Communists dominated the convention was a great exaggeration. The 

 Communists made up only a small minority of the delegates. Further- 

 more, though their aims were well known, they were willing to cooperate 

 in launching a third party. In the final analysis there was no more rea- 

 son for doubting their sincerity than there was in questioning the motives 

 of La Follette himself. 49 



William Mahoney, the temporary chairman of the convention, bitterly 

 charged that the actions of La Follette were "cruel and unwarranted" 

 and that he had been put up to it by the labor politicians in Washington. 

 Again Mahoney pronounced this a movement that exceeded the interests 

 of any single person. "This is not primarily a La Follette movement, but 

 a working class movement with La Follette as an important factor." He 

 related the visit to Wisconsin by a committee which found that while 

 La Follette had not promised that he would run, he did nevertheless in- 

 dicate that little was to be expected from the two major parties in 1924. 

 La Follette showed no opposition to the St. Paul convention at the time 

 and did leave the impression that he would become a candidate unless an 

 unforeseen exigency arose. 50 



It had been stated that one reason why La Follette wanted to stage 

 the third-party convention after, and not before, the Republicans met in 

 Cleveland in June was that he wanted to come before the Republicans 

 without a Farmer-Labor endorsement stamped on him. Besides giving 

 him the position of an independent, it also would enable him to run on 

 his own platform instead of being bound to that of the Farmer-Laborites. 51 



The La Follette supporters present at the Republican gathering in Cleve- 

 land were largely the Wisconsin delegates. The senator had given them 

 instructions to refrain from presenting his name to the convention, 52 but 



49. Milwaukee Leader, May 29, 1924. 



50. St. Paul Dispatch, June 17, 1924. 



51. Minneapolis Journal, March 18, 1924. 



52. Milwaukee Sentinel, June 10, 1924. 



