The Washington herald., 1922-05-14
Declares Program Will
Benefit People of All
Glasses.
SEEKS HONESTY
IN GOVERNMENT
Elimination of Middle
men Is Necessity, He
Asserts.

some. progressive legislation. which
will bring about better, conditions
agriculturally, and promotion of a
program in which agriculture oc-
cupies leading position. is the
mission of the so-called farm bloc,
according to Senator Arthur Cap
per of Kansas, who addressed the
American Association of University
Women at 1854 / street northwest
last night.
Senator Capper declared the. rea-
son for the bIoc's existence is a
desire to serve the people and the
nation in time of need. The bloc
is working. he said, for honest in
dustry. honest finance, honest COM
merce. honest labor.
Says Farmers Come First.
The need of a constructive ma
tionaI program looking to the re-
habilitation of agriculture is re-
garded by the farm bloc as i'm
perative." the Senator declared. 1T
is generally accepted that pros
perity must come to the farms be-
fore il can prevail in the city. Evils
that have grown up must be cor
rected before agriculture can func-
tion in a normal and profitable
way.
The men making up the so-called
agricultural bloc are not so fatuous
as to believe the remedy for dis
tressing conditions in the agricul-
tural districts lies wholly in legis-
lstion or in government activity,
but they do believe that the gov
ernment acting through the Presi-
dent and Congress may do much to
hasten the return of healthy eondi-
tions to agriculture.
aCrisis- Is CronIc.
Senator Capper declared the farm
crisis is chronic and the war has
simply made this crisis more acute.
He expressed the hope that the
bloc. including Federal control of
tion OF grain exchanges and a bet
ter system of credit for farmers.
when once established, will go far
to assure a steady meat supply at
''let-live" prices for producer and
consumer.
American agriculture has become
the football of the market manipu-
lator and the market gambler until
III
strain. he said.
The bloc is not a factional or
partisan group and there is no pur-
pose to form a new party or a new
faction of one of the old parties
or to cause any schism or regroup-
ing Of parties, according to the
Senator.
War on MiddIeman.
The farm bloc believes that the
best way to mend the present sit
uation and provide for the future
Is to Increase the producers profits
by shortening the road to market
One way to accomplish this is
through cooperative marketing
which eliminates the unessentiaI
and speculative middleman and
which gives producers and consum-
ers their due.
This we hope to accomplish
through the recently enacted Cap
Der-Volstead cooperative market
ing law. which gives farmers for
the first time an unclouded right to
organize for the sale and distribu-
tion of their own products"
He explained that the bloc was
instrumental in obtaining the Cap
per-French truth-in-fabric bill,
which applies the principles of the
pure food act to clothing. The
bill requires that fabrics shall be
sold for just what they are and IL
wool Is mixed with cotton the
amount must be stated.
says Bankers Fight Bloc.
Opposition is being registered to
the farm bloc's proposed amend
ment to the Federal Reserve act.
which provides that agriculture
should be represented on the Fed
eral Reserve Board with industry,
commerce and finance, he said.
when the Senate passed the bill
a. few weeks ago the talk of Wall
street bankers was that II was
class legislation These bankers
are now bitterly opposing action
on this measure in the House"
In closing. Senator Capper said
he was opposed to "class legisla-
tion" as the stiffest-backed Ameri-
can citizen who ever lived.
Il would put the argument on
higher ground and that is national
welfare. Take care of tn farm
and the farm will take care of the
nation"
He expressed the belief that the
greatest measure of relief to agri-
culture and Of direct benefit to the
consumer will come through fur
ther cooperative organizations and
cooperative marketing. and urged
American citizens give every such