AGRICULTURAL DISCONTENT 



tremendous influence, was a forceful agency. Amply fortified with funds, 

 publicity, membership, and powerful nonfarm backing, it was highly 

 reflective of the conservatism that generally followed in the aftermath of 

 the war. It had much in common with the Grange, which no longer was 

 the force that it once had been in this part of the country, but it was 

 bitterly opposed by older groups like the Farmers' Union, the remains of 

 the Equity, and the Nonpartisan League. The latter groups insisted, in fact 

 do to this very day, that the Bureau was a stalking horse for the financial 

 and industrial interests that were frightened by the upsurge of radicalism. 



Farm Bureau members, cooperative buying and selling associations, 

 and other activities of the organization were most numerous in the states 

 of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. As time elapsed the Bu- 

 reau grew in Kansas and Missouri, despite the solid entrenchment of the 

 Missouri Farmers' Association in the latter state, but little progress was 

 made in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, where the rival 

 Farmers' Union enjoyed varying degrees of success. Likewise, Chicago 

 remained the headquarters for both the national organization and the 

 powerful Illinois Agricultural Association. Over the period from 1920 to 

 1939 three out of four of the national presidents came from the Middle 

 West. Iowa, Ohio, and Illinois each contributed one, and Alabama the 

 fourth. 



The elevation of Edward O'Neal of Alabama to the presidency in 1931 

 was more an act of political expediency than it was a tribute to either the 

 influence of the South or the state of Alabama. A smashing Democratic 

 victory was anticipated in 1932, and the belief was that the Bureau stood 

 a better chance to taking part in New Deal policy-shaping matters and 

 in building up its membership if a life-long Democrat was made its na- 

 tional president. O'Neal's incumbency, though exceeding the combined 

 tenures of the first three presidents by a number of years, is hardly an 

 accurate index of Bureau membership in the South. 



Earl Smith of Illinois, the second in command for a number of years, 

 was more of a representative of the western Middle West. As a personality, 

 he was hardly the dramatic and volatile type that O'Neal was, but many 

 considered him the brains of the organization and he was once regarded 

 as the logical successor to O'Neal when and if the Republicans again 

 gained control in Washington. More specifically, Smith represented the 



