Big Bean Raid

Hearings for a farmer hero

The witness had admittedly taken the law into his own hands and led a daring raid on court-protected property. Nonetheless, when he was sprung from jail on a temporary pass last week to testify in Washington on ways that farmers can be hurt by bankruptcy laws, Senators and Congressmen crowded around to shake his hand. To farmers in the dusty "bootheel" area of southeastern Missouri, and indeed to farmers all over the country, he is a hero, fighting a battle for the oppressed against unjust law. And what for?...