AGRARIAN PARTIES AND THEIR POLICIES 179 



party the sympathetic support of a large element of 

 the farm population. 



The issues were very clearly drawn between the 

 conservative Republican Party and the Progressive 

 Party, which was composed of the liberal Republi- 

 cans throughout the country. Taft became the can- 

 didate of the Republican Party in opposition to 

 Roosevelt, the candidate of the Progressive Party. 

 Woodrow Wilson became the Democratic candidate. 

 He advocated the "New Freedom/' which repre- 

 sented an intermediate position between the ultra 

 conservative position of the Republican organiza- 

 tion and the extreme, liberal position of Roosevelt 

 and his followers. The results of the election show 

 that the electorate divided its strength between the 

 two old party organizations on the basis of normal 

 party alignments, except in the case of the farmers 

 who were normally Republican. As a general thing 

 they deserted Taft and the old Republican Party 

 organization and voted for Roosevelt. 



Wilson's election committed the nation to a pro- 

 gram of sanely progressive legislation, including due 

 consideration to economic and social problems af- 

 fecting agriculture. 



The Nonpartisan League movement had its rise, 

 greatest expansion, and decline within the period 

 comprehended by the administration of Woodrow 

 Wilson. No other administration in American his- 

 tory has passed so much legislation directly favor- 

 able to the interests of farmers as that of President 



