PREFACE ix 



ties who are thoroughly informed about the par- 

 ticular movement they have discussed. The reader 

 will find much helpful information in such volumes 

 as Wiest's Agricultural Organization in the United 

 States; Buck's The Agrarian Crusade; Howard's 

 The Farm Bureau Movement; Bruce's The Non- 

 partisan League; Haynes' Third Party Movements; 

 Capper's The Agricultural Bloc; Warren and Pear- 

 son's The Agricultural Situation; and numerous 

 other publications. 



It is hoped that at least this book may possess 

 the merit of timeliness. There is nothing to indi- 

 cate that the issue of agrarianism is passing. Re- 

 cently the Rural Report of the Liberal Land 

 Committee in Great Britain has been published. 

 This report recommends radical changes in the land 

 tenure policy of England. The fact that it has the 

 support of at least one of the predominant parties 

 in Great Britain gives weight to its conclusions. The 

 Conservative Party will not likely be able to ignore 

 the issue raised by leaders of the Liberal Party in 

 this report. In our own country agrarian influence 

 compelled the Sixty-ninth Congress to give serious 

 consideration to farm relief proposals. The failure 

 of Congress to pass the kind of legislation demanded 

 by great farm organizations will certainly make this 

 subject a major issue in the next national campaign. 



There is a prevailing opinion that rural discontent 

 only occurs during brief periods of financial depres- 

 sion. The history of agrarianism supplies some evi- 



