RECORD OF BLOC IN CONGRESS 157 



Act was much less than had been experienced 

 with the Packer Bill, since by this time, August 

 9, the strength of the Agricultural Bloc had 

 been recognized and the bill was finally adopted 

 without a vote of record. The same was true 

 of the amendment to the War Finance Corpora- 

 tion Act, which passed August 4 without a 

 record vote. 



"When it was once apparent that the Bloc 

 could mobilize the strength to secure final pas- 

 sage for a bill, the opponents of agriculture 

 shifted their tactics to the extent that they began 

 to present numerous amendments to various 

 bills designed to modify the general purpose of 

 the bill. The Bloc was just as effective in meet- 

 ing these raids as it was in holding the Senate 

 to its task and advancing the measures as rap- 

 idly as possible. 



During the Fall there was a considerable 

 period when the chief attention of Congress was 

 directed to the tax bill and a discussion of tariff 

 matters and relatively little attention was given 

 to the measures on the program of the Farm 

 Bloc. During this period occurred the contest 

 over the Excess Profits Tax in which the Bloc 

 was supposed to have functioned although, as a 

 matter of fact, the group did not specifically 



