THE FBI AND THE FARM EQUIPMENT WORKERS.

This article describes the basic parameters of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s surveillance system, outline the Bureau's filing system, and discuss the procedures for obtaining files. The basic source for this article is the case file that the FBI developed during its surveillance of the Farm Equipment Workers from 1941 to 1955. The Farm Equipment Workers, which originated in the Chicago Steel Workers Organizing Committee, organized the majority of International Harvester plants, other agricultural implement plants, and miscellaneous manufacturing shops. The FBI carries on investigations at the Field Office level. The Field Offices have their own files, which differ drastically from those kept at FBI headquarters. The Field Office files contain the raw material produced by investigations and provide the basis for reports sent to Washington. The first and most obvious source of information is an FBI organizational file. Volume of paper, especially in the case of the FBI, is certainly no guide to the quality of information, but the amount produced on Congress of Industrial Organizations is staggering. One important function that FBI files serve is to confirm or expand upon data gathered from other sources. Information on the backgrounds and movements of the organizers and leaders of 236 is a case in point.