Fehér György szerk.: A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Közleményei 1992-1994 (Budapest, 1994)

11. Nemzetközi Gazdaságtörténeti Kongresszus, 1994., Milánó (llth International Economic History Congress) - FEHÉR GYÖRGY: Agricultural associations in Hungary in the late 19th century

assembly. For the offices of the president and vice-presidents only landowning members could compete, and they were elected with majority of votes for 6 years. In the period between ordinary and extraordinary general assemblies corporate rights were exercised by the board of management having 90 members, while operative work was performed by the council of management, in which the great part of work was done by paid clerks of the Association. The staff of leading officials consisted of the director, secretaries, legal counsel and the chief accountant, they were supplemented by the administrative staff. Professional work carried out in the trade departments — headed by the chairman and the secretary — and in the standing committees was co-ordinated by the Council of the Association. At the end of the century nine standing committees functioned within four trade departments (economic, technical literature and education, tillage and plant growing, animal husbandry). Primary and unconcealed aim of OMGE was to contribute to raising the level of agricultural production in Hungary, and to fight for the adoption of a national economic policy providing protection and favoures for domestic producers. In order to realize its objects it considered to the greatest extent — beside the interests of big landowners representing the predominant part of the members — those of medium landowners, too. Nevertheless, decisive role within the Association ws played by the representatives of big landowner aristocracy possessing lands of several thousand, often several ten thousand hectares, and having great influence in political life as well. At the same time, great importance was attached to having as members of the Association the most excellent theoretical and practical experts of Hungarian agrarian society. As it was already mentioned above, the Association always endeavoured to urge the governments of different periods to adopt a direction of economic policy effectively representing the viewpoints of agriculture and, first of all, those of big landowners. In Hungary this group having strong ascendancy did not establish a political party in the period under investigation, it took other opportunities to assert its interests, for example, tried to realize its conceptions through professional organizations such as OMGE. For this purpose excellent opportunities presented themselves at the different farmer's meetings and congresses. A year after the Compromise of 1867, being a milestone in contemporary history of the country, delegates of agricultural associations assembled together in the city of Pest for a three-day meeting. The appearance in organized form of agrarian interest-safeguarding was proved by the events of the farmer's meeting held in Székesfehérvár in 1879, in the organization of which decisive role was played by OMGE. According to the general opinion this event, formulating conservative criticism of capitalistic phenomena, can be considered as the beginning of Hungarian agrarian movement. The loosely congregated movement, and the Association being one of its professional bases, fought all the time for the technical/technological reformation of agriculture, but they held it acceptable only while taking the interests of the stratum of big landowners into consideration to the greatest extent. At the meeting of 1879, among others, claims serving the interests of the whole of agri-