168 THE GREEN RISING 



or to cherish the interests of one portion to the in- 

 jury of another portion of our common country. 

 This doctrine is reaffirmed in later platforms of the 

 Democratic Party. While the tariff policy of the 

 country is not referred to in these platform declara- 

 tions, the protective policy of the government is 

 clearly in the minds of those who formulated this 

 and similar statements. The two great parties have 

 differed essentially on the tariff issue, but the Re- 

 publican Party has been influenced greatly by the 

 farmers of the country with reference to tariff legis- 

 lation. The Republican platform, for example, has 

 pledged protection to various groups of farmers and 

 stockmen by advocating a protective duty on wool, 

 sugar, and other products produced by group inter- 

 ests of farmers. 



The influence of the farm population also is re- 

 vealed in the party platforms relating to other mat- 

 ters besides the tariff. Declarations on monopolies, 

 the money question, railroad consolidation and regu- 

 lation, and public land policies have indicated the 

 increasing influence of the farmers in politics. 



With the growing political power of the rural 

 population in the West and the South since the 

 Civil War, agrarian policies have received more at- 

 tention on the part of each of the great political 

 parties. While political promise has not always 

 been synonymous with political performance, much 

 has been accomplished through party action in 

 behalf of the farm population. 



