44 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



objectors and the state. According to the terms agreed upon, the farmers 

 were to be permitted to choose an accredited veterinarian to test their 

 cattle; assurances were made that the state officials would not be kept in 

 the protesting areas if the farmers gave evidence that they were going to 

 comply with the law; and finally, the state legislators, not the governor, 

 were the ones who were empowered to bring the bill for the optional test 

 out of the "sifting committee" for a vote. The attempt made to bring the 

 bill out for a vote failed by a vote of 80 to 22, which was good evidence 

 that public sentiment was not behind the objectors. 14 



While the governor restated his determination to enforce the testing 

 law, farmers from Cedar County filed a petition seeking an injunction 

 to restrain the state from acting. The Iowa supreme court upheld the law, 

 however, when it reversed the decision of the lower court, and this time 

 the appeal went to the United States Supreme Court. The office of the 

 attorney general of Iowa called this appeal frivolous, because there was 

 nothing in the state law that involved a federal issue; it did not deny due 

 process of law because it was in the interest of public health and the gen- 

 eral welfare. As predicted, the United States Supreme Court failed to pass 

 on the case because there was no federal issue involved. 15 



A somewhat embarrassing situation was created in the spring and 

 summer of 1931 when the daughter of one of the Iowa farmers who had 

 had cows condemned was adjudged the healthiest girl in the United 

 States. The recalcitrant farmers believed that here was a situation that 

 was going to help their protests, because she attributed her health to drink- 

 ing a quart of milk a day. Stories were circulating to the effect that all the 

 cows of her father had been condemned, to which he replied that only 

 eight of his twenty-seven animals had been condemned and that the 

 objectors were doing too much "yapping" and spreading of "malicious 

 propaganda." He further charged the objectors with opposing the laws 

 of Iowa, President Hoover, Iowa State College, the Red Cross, the Farm 

 Bureau, and other "worth-while organizations." He added that he was 

 "mighty glad" that his cows had been tested. 16 By the once hopeful 

 objectors, these utterances were taken with the greatest suspicion. 



14. DCS Moines Register, April 15, 1931. 



15. Ibid., April 19, 29, May 2, 26, 1931; Des Moines Tribune, September 22, 1931. 



16. Bureau Farmer (Iowa Edition), May, 1931, p. u; Iowa Union Farmer, July 

 I, 15, 1931. 



