Ezra & the Farm Vote

Hotfooting it from Capitol Hill to the Agriculture Department on an astonishing political mission, Minnesota's Congressman Walter H. Judd and Nebraska's Arthur L. Miller last week tracked down Agriculture Secretary Ezra Taft Benson. They had an urgent message: G.O.P. farm state Congressmen had just convened in emergency caucus and decided that either Benson must quit his job or 20 to. 25 members of the caucus would be defeated this fall as part of the mounting farm protest against Benson's policies.

Behind the latest party revolt against Ezra Benson lay grim results of a special election in Minnesota to fill the late Congressman August Andresen's First District seat. So rock-ribbed Republican are the First District's twelve rural counties that the district has sent only three Democrats to Congress in Minnesota's 100 years, and none in the last 65. Never in twelve House terms did Andresen win less than 60% of the vote. But in a battle of young unknowns only last week, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Candidate Eugene Foley, 29, almost upset Republican Albert Quie, 34; Foley lost by only 664 votes out of 87,950 cast. Major reason behind Foley's showing: Benson decisions to lower dairy support prices.

The week's protests, both from Minnesota and from Capitol Hill, were overruled by Ezra Taft Benson. After listening to Judd and Miller for 40 minutes, he announced that he was not only staying on, but would "continue to pursue a course which I believe is best for our farmers." Most farm state G.O.P. Congressmen still were angrily certain that this was the worst possible political course, decided once more to ask Dwight Eisenhower to fire Benson. But Minnesota's Walter Judd was impressed by what he had seen and heard, sober second-thought: "I myself think he's been right in his policy."

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