The Washington herald., 1921-08-02
SENATORS ADOPT
BROADER VIEWS
0NFARMER RELIEF
Substitute for Norris Bill
Offers Loans on
Products.
OPPOSE u. s. BUYING
New Plan viii Greatly Extend
Powers of War Finance
Corporation.
OPPOSE u. s. BUYING
ny MARK SULLIVAN.

ny MARK SULLIVAN.
The question just now being de-
cided by the Senate Is how far the
government Of the United States
should so in extending direct finan-
cial relief to farmers who are en-
barrassed by their inability to and
q market for their crops.
The distance that the Senate Is
now willing to go as expressed In
the most moderate of the three
measures now before them as COM
pared with what they were willing
to do six months ago shows how
far we have gone in the direction
Of those experiments in govern
ment relief. which always comes to
the front in a time Of financial dis
tress.
Provides Government Loan.
The most moderate Of the meas
ures before the Senate, and to be
decided within q few days, provides
that the government shall go the
whole distance Of buying goods d.
ECCI lIO" thC loh ihNh ohN SSAAh"e
them to European consumers and
to European governments.
1t is now clear that this latter
measure will not pass. But It is
only being prevented from passing
by the fact that the administra-
.tion threw the weight Of its infiu-
ence against It.
When Congress came together
10 NJ nAoavnhnr tho nhiaf nrnnn9aI for
the relief of distress among the
farmers was the revival of the War
Finance Corporation. The func-
tions of this corporation as pro-
posed at that time. were far short
of what IS now under discussion.
Limited to Exportern.
The functions Of the War Finance
Corporation, as revived last Janu-
airy. were practically limited to
loaning government money to ex-
porters. At the time. this function
was substantially limited to trans
actions in which an order for the
goods had already been secured
from abroad, and the intention was
merely to provide banking facili-
ties for transactions already ar
ranged.
Even in this simple form the re-
vival Of the War Finance Corpora
ton was opposed at that time by
the Secretary of the Treasury and
by President Wilson. But the bill
was passed over the President s
veto, and the corporation has been
doing business for some six months,
during which IL has loaned some
thing over 100000. 900, chiefly to
facilitate the EXPORT Of cotton. That
the operations of the War Finance
Corporation have been skilfully con-
Quoted, and have done much to help
the distress among the farmers and
bankers of the cotton States. Is one
of the most obvious facts in WASH
ington today.
More Direct Relief Asked.
But as the difficulties of the
farmers continued there arose q
demand for a more direct and radi-
cal form of government relief. This
expressed itself in the shape Of the
bill introduced by Senator Norris
of Nebraska. chairman OF the Com
n;ittee on Agriculture, providing
that the government should become
a middleman and a dealer: that II
should buy the goods which the
farmers have on hand and sell them
to Individual consumers and to gov
ernments in Europe.
|. This was SO radical a proposal
and the failure of the government
as a business man has been SO re-
Gently and so forcibly demonstrated
in the case of the Shipping Board
and In other respects, that several
prudent members OF the administra-
ton we're alarmed. Senator Nor
ris's measure had gained so much
momentum that it was not possible
to defeat II as the bonus bill was
defeated, but it was decided to offer
a substitute, which should remain
within the bounds of what the ad-
and possible function of the gov
| ernment
Extends Banking Plan.
This substitute eliminated en-
! tirely the idea of the government
becoming a direct buyer and seller
Of farm products. It also elm
mated the idea of forming a sep
arate government corporation for
this purpose. Instead of that. the
substitute provided that the func-
tions of the War Finance Corpora
tion should be extended so as 70
permit that corporation to be not
merchant but a banker. Under
the terms of the administrations
substitute. stated broadly. the gov
ernment is permitted to loan money
to persons, corporations and asso-
Citations having farm products on
their hands on the security of those
products.
The introduction of this substi-
tute and the blocking of the orig
inal Norris bill have caused as mucn
political commotion as anything
that has come up in the Senate this
session. Senator Norris and the
members of what has come to be
called the farmers bloc" are BIT
terly resentful of the admin,s-
tration's side-tracking of their
measure.
May Loan on Farm Products.
Undoubtedly, the activity of the
administration has been Successful
In blocking the original Norris bill.
All that remains in dispute are cer-
tain details of the substitute. Some
Of the farmer Senators insist that
the government shall not confine It's
loans to dealers, but shall loan di-
rect to the Individual farmer on the
security of the crop in his barn.
The objection tothis is that in or
der to take on such a mass OF in
diyidual transactions with isolated
farmers an enormous government
machinery would have to be built up.
What will come out Of IL all IL,
tha We r4<anca rorpara ttop vii,