THE ECONOMIC PROTEST 201 



farm bureau organizations were established and 

 state federations of county farm bureaus were 

 formed. The date for this meeting was opportune. 

 The prices of farm products had fallen throughout 

 the country, the purchasing power of farmers had 

 greatly declined, and the Nation was in the midst 

 of a far-reaching financial depression. 



Some of the addresses made at the Chicago meet- 

 ing may be regarded rightfully as important con- 

 tributions to the agrarian literature of this country. 

 Harvey J. Sconce, who was president of the Illinois 

 Bureau at the time, said: "It is our duty in creat- 

 ing this organization to avoid any policy that will 

 align organized farmers with the radicals of other 

 organizations. The policy should be thoroughly 

 American in every respect, a constructive organ- 

 ization instead of a destructive organization. 



"We shall organize, not to fight any one or to 

 antagonize, but to cooperate and to construct, 

 managing the affairs of agriculture in a broad busi- 

 ness manner, following the policy that most of the 

 ills complained of by the individual will disappear 

 when business is done in business ways. 



"In order to do the business involved in a national 

 agricultural association it will be necessary that this 

 association be represented in every place where the 

 business of the farmer is taken into consideration. 



"The great idea should be to keep control of our 

 food products until they get closer to the ultimate 

 consumer than they do at the present time, thereby 

 not only returning to us profit on the article pro- 



