PUBLIC ATTITUDE TOWARD BLOC 125 



Another common mistake in the press was to 

 attribute activity within the Bloc to Senators 

 who were never identified with it. Almost from 

 the outset the membership in this group was 

 definitely fixed and there were but few changes. 



The agricultural press, being thoroughly 

 familiar with the farm situation, was able to 

 present a much more accurate picture to the 

 farmers of the country than city folks were able 

 to get from the metropolitan newspapers. The 

 changes that were constantly taking place were 

 observed by farmers and they understood the 

 logic of the shifting in legislation having to do 

 with farm needs. This section of the press 

 pointed out with considerable amusement how 

 the business groups had suddenly developed a 

 great antipathy to the grouping of legislators 

 along economic lines instead of party lines and 

 their evident distress over the tendency to 

 deplore representation by specific industrial 

 groups. 



The attitude of certain opposing interests 

 was clearly reflected in the trade press, at times, 

 when they would bitterly assail the Bloc as 

 being an opponent for selfish class interests 

 of the best interest of the nation. These papers 

 furnished an excellent index to what manufac- 



