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FARMERS' ORGANIZATIONS 



annual membership dues of these farmers. These membership 

 fees vary in different States, from one dollar a year to ten dollars 

 a year per member. The organization is clearly one of farmers, 

 by farmers and for farmers, free from undue domination by any 

 outside interests, governmental, commercial or otherwise. As 

 these local county units became strong, it was a logical step to 

 federate the county units within a State into a State Federation 

 of Farm Bureaus. By the beginning of the year 1919 the following 

 18 States had such State Federations: California, Colorado, 



Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, 

 Massachusetts, Michigan, Mis- 

 souri, Montana, Nebraska, New 

 Hampshire, New York, Ohio, 

 Pennsylvania, South Dakota, 

 Vermont, West Virginia. Clearly, 

 the next logical step was to unite 

 the State federations into a 

 National Federation of Farm 

 Bureaus. This was done in the 

 year 1919 under the presidency of 

 J. R. Howard of Iowa (Fig. 50). 

 Then for the first time, agricul- 

 ture as a single great industry, 

 became organized, mobilized, 

 provided with a voice in national 

 affairs. In this organization the 

 farmers have a means of formu- 

 lating and announcing policies; 

 they have the machinery for 

 formulating demands for legislation; they have an institution which 

 will encourage them to organize for the study of educational, eco- 

 nomic,social,and political problems; they have constituted amedium 

 through which the membership may act collectively. They are on 

 a par with so-called " organized labor" and "organized capital." 

 2. National Farmers' Organizations. It is not the purpose of 

 this chapter to give an encyclopedic list of all farmers' national 

 organizations, for their number is too great for that. Only a 

 few are named here, and only one is discussed in detail, the oldest 

 one being selected for that purpose. Among the national organiza- 

 tions which have survived a period of ten years and over may be 

 listed these larger ones : Farmers' Union, Equity Union, American 

 Society of Equity, The Gleaners, and the Grange. 



FIG. 50. J. R. Howard, of Iowa, first pres- 

 ident of the American Federation of Farm 

 Bureaus. 



