196 THE GREEN RISING 



located. While the political leadership of the farm- 

 ing states may remain somewhat confused, owing to 

 the rapidity with which this schism has arisen, the 

 economic leadership consisting of the heads of the 

 Farmers' organizations are very definite and unani- 

 mous in their views." 



The farmers of the country have been responsible 

 largely for all of the Third Party movements that 

 have become significant in our political history. 

 Their greatest influence, politically speaking, was 

 exerted by the Populist Party. The Nonpartisan 

 League did not become a national party movement 

 to any appreciable extent, but its political influence 

 was reflected in the elections of several states, and 

 in North Dakota it probably has made a permanent 

 contribution to the political policies of the state 

 government. 



It is too early to appraise the political significance 

 of the Farm Labor movement. Its future will prob- 

 ably depend upon the quality of its leadership and 

 the agricultural economic situation. The citizen- 

 ship of the country, however, will make a mistake 

 to judge these third party agrarian movements 

 merely by the popular or electoral votes they re- 

 ceived or the number of candidates they elected to 

 office. Deeper significance of the influence of these 

 parties is to be found in their effects upon the two 

 predominant parties. They have had the effect of 

 stimulating the progressive elements in the Demo- 

 cratic and Republican parties, and forcing the 



