3 02 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



"grave scandals and flagrant betrayals of the public trust." Needless to 

 say, this was an unusual procedure for a group of progressives to follow, 

 especially after they had denounced both of the major parties for high- 

 handed methods. But that was what actually did happen. 56 



The convention that assembled, according to the New Yort( Times, in- 

 cluded, besides those insurgents who had been snubbed by the Coolidge 

 convention, 



disgruntled farmers, business men, trade unionists, woman suffragists, progres- 

 sives of the Roosevelt tradition, veterans of the World War and the usual con- 

 tingent of freaks who pursue any new party as small boys follow a circus. . . . 

 The delegates were well-dressed and serious-minded citizens. Long whiskers, 

 Windsor ties and other habiliments of those accustomed to pursue strange doc- 

 trines were conspicuous by their absence. The "communists" of the Foster- 

 Ruthenberg type were excommunicated and the entire "Red" party was 

 denounced. The convention represented those who seek political power by 

 ballots and not by bullets. 57 



All in all, there were about twelve hundred accredited delegates. 



On July 4 La Follette finally announced that he was going to be an in- 

 dependent candidate running on his Wisconsin program. This statement 

 came in the form of a fifty-minute message, read to the gathering by 

 young Bob, his son and secretary, who came from Washington for this 

 very purpose. 58 To La Follette, "the one paramount issue of the 1924 cam- 

 paign" was to "break the combined power of the private monopoly system 

 over the political and economic life of the American people." This the 

 American people could do by wresting the government from "the preda- 

 tory interests which now control it. . . ." Uniting the people around the 

 monopoly issue was the big hope of the country. 



La Follette stated, with no hesitation, that the Sherman Act could have 

 been an effective weapon in checking monopoly had it been employed 

 when monopoly "was yet in its infancy," but small, powerful groups had 

 united to resist its operation and to control markets and prices. "Each 

 group dictates production and prices in its own field in iron, coal, oil, 

 steel, lumber, sugar, meats, clothing in short, in mining, manufactur- 



56. Ibid., July 4, 1924. 



57. Ibid., July 13, 1924. 



58. Pioneer Press, July 5, 1924. 



