262 THE GREEN RISING 



farmer. It is this vital and influential element in 

 our population to whom we may reasonably look for 

 aid in the support of all measures designed to sus- 

 tain and promote the interests of farm enterprises. 



It would appear then, in the light of history and 

 present results of agrarian effort, that the future of 

 agriculture in this country is reasonably encourag- 

 ing. At least there is no immediate cause for con- 

 cern. Quoting Walter Locke again: "The road 

 ahead for the farmer, both political and economic, 

 is a lengthy one. He himself must change before 

 his condition can be wholly changed, and he is slow 

 to change. But there is a stirring, and no light one. 

 In his politics, as in his business, the sleeping giant 

 is rubbing his eyes. The reforms initiated by grange 

 and farmers' alliance were, many of them, adopted 

 after the farmer parties had died. The Nonpartisan 

 League was a flash in the pan, but it taught western 

 farmers the power of political independence. Due 

 partly to farmer spirit, the Middle West is achiev- 

 ing something like a political autonomy. . . . 



"But steadily, by whatever path seems to open, 

 the farmers are working their way into the sun. 

 A million and a half of them, more or less, are in co- 

 operative associations turning over a billion or so 

 a year. The farmer has his lobbies at Washington 

 and the state capitols as respectably as any other 

 interest. Blunderingly, more or less blindly, with 

 many missteps, up many a blind alley, the belated 



