THE STORY OF THE NONPARTISAN LEAGUE 



They made a total of all the items they had 

 entered as they went along, showing what the 

 producer had netted from this. It was 84 cents. 



A few nights before the five had attended a 

 meeting of farmers, addressed by a Senator of 

 the United States, three members of the national 

 House of Representatives, and an eminent but 

 migratory statesman out of employment. 



These had, with one accord, though in 

 much variety of enthusiastic phrasing, in- 

 formed the meeting that the farmer was the 

 most important man in the country. Every- 

 thing depended upon him: the prosperity 

 of the nation, its safety, progress, and great- 

 ness. In the scheme of modern society, one 

 speaker had declared, the Farmer was It. 

 He fed all the rest, for on his skill and labor 

 they must live; his patriotic services and 

 sacrifices had enabled the government to 

 wage and win the Great War. Much glory 

 be to the Farmer! And now it appeared the 

 nation once more looked to him for deliver- 

 ance and help. There was underproduction 

 in our broad land. What was needed was 

 that every farmer, conscious of his responsi- 

 bilities and important functions to society, 

 should go forth and increase production, and 

 one speaker failed not to adorn his remarks 

 with that highly original thought about the 

 beatitude of making two leaves of grass 

 grow where only one had grown before. 



