5 20 AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



the "glaring inequalities" which he warned might "destroy the entire pro- 

 gram" if they were not adjusted immediately. There was no denying that 

 the activities of the Corn Belt Liberty League were rising and forcing 

 top administration officials to take notice. 41 By May, 1938, the league had 

 roots in Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa. 42 



The administration, noticing that the situation was becoming worse, 

 ordered state, county, and township committees affiliated with the A.A.A. 

 to launch a counteroffensive against the critics. Claude R. Wickard, di- 

 rector of the north central division of the A.A.A., said that what inequi- 

 ties there were would be straightened out, but that the administration 

 would not give an inch in the demands for a general increase in the corn 

 acreage allotments. He accused them of fomenting unrest and misrepre- 

 senting the facts, and predicted that the "revolt" would die as fast as the 

 facts could be relayed to the farmers. 43 



Congressmen were reported worrying over the protests about acreage 

 allotments. The letters they were receiving were different from the 

 typewritten complaints and telegrams that they usually received. "The 

 letters I get," one legislator said, "are usually on cheap ruled paper and 

 written in pencil. They are the kind of letters we pay attention to. One 

 protest of that sort means more than a hundred letters on fancy station- 

 ery." 



Wallace, in the face of mounting complaints, also told reporters that 

 what injustices there were would be ironed out speedily and that the trou- 

 ble would die down as soon as the program was better understood. He 

 blamed much of the trouble on the late start that the program had, and 

 the failure to perform the usual educational work among the farmers 

 before launching it. 44 



Besides protesting against acreage allotments, these bitter critics of the 

 A.A.A. cited other grievances. While the corn-belt farmers were being 

 told to cut down their acreages, southern farmers who had been barred 

 from raising cotton were being allowed to grow corn. 45 Dairy farmers 



41. Wisconsin State Journal (Madison), April 29, 1938. 



42. Kansas City Star, May i, 1938; Des Moines Tribune, May 6, 1938; Chicago 

 Tribune, May 7, 1938; and Des Moines Register, May 20, 1938. 



43. Wisconsin State Journal, April 29, 1938. 44. Chicago Tribune, May 6, 1938. 

 45. See editorial, "Washington Moves the Corn Belt South," Chicago Tribune, 



May 23, 1938. 



