Watergate Trial Conversations

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CONNALLY:
They were, they were twenty-nine a year ago.

HARDIN:
It's because they grew so many.

CONNALLY:
Well, we had, there's, there's lots of

problems and they're responsible for a lot

of them. Fortunately, beef prices have held

up fairly well but, uh, grain is an

insoluble problem so far as I can tell. Uh,

it, it, it -- worrying with it for years, so

I, I just don't know many areas that you can

do many things -- that's the net of what I'm

saying -- to help, uh, the farmers uh, and

the dairy people now. These dairymen are

organized; they're adamant; they're

militant. This particular group, AMPI,

which is the American Milk Producers

Institute or something, uh, represents about

forty thousand people. The one that

parallels them on the East, uh, Mid-Con, or

something --

HARDIN:
Mid-American.

CONNALLY:
Mid-American group represents about forty

thousand. The Southeastern group, uh,

Dairymen Incorporated, whatever their name

is, represents a lesser number, but probably

in the range of twenty thousand members.

They, uh, very frankly, they tap these

fellows I believe it's one-third of one

percent of their total" sales or ninety-nine

dollars a year whichever is --

PRESIDENT:
Like a union.

CONNALLY:
Oh, it's a check-off. No question about it.

And they're meeting, and they're having

meetings. They have them a Sabreliner

airplane, and they just travel from one part

of the country to another part of the

country to get these fellows in and they

sign them up and it's a pure check-off deal.

And they, they're amassing an enormous

amount of money that they're going to put

into political activities, very frankly.

And, uh, uh, I think, in the first place --

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